Balancing Act
by Turtlehat
Summary: What if Akane was NOT the first girl to capture Ranma's heart? And what does magic and bandits got to do with all this? (Ranma/some Slayers). Chapter 3 teaser up! Sorry, Chap2 still not completely finished
1. Prologue

Balancing Act 

By Turtlehat

Disclaimer:  Slayers is not mine.  Ranma 1/2 is not mine.  This story is for entertainment purposes only, not profit.

Now on to the story.

Prologue 

Jusenkyo, Bayankala Range, China

Jusenkyo is known as many things.  Among them, 'Pools of Sorrow' and 'Cursed Training Grounds'.  In effect, it is basically a place where nothing alive dare live.  Even insects and small crawling things avoid this place.  For you see, it is a place of tragedy.  Normally, there would be more than a hundred pools there and whoever falls in one changes their shape to whatever drowned there last.  Fortunately for the nearby inhabitants, most of the pools are benign, turning their victims into harmless or sometimes dangerous animals, but animals nonetheless.  But once in a while, someone would get cursed with a powerful or dangerous form such as the spring of drowned war goddess or spring of drowned minotaur.  For cases like those, the nearby inhabitants band together to destroy or subdue the poor victim.  For thousands of years, people and animals have been it's unwilling victims.  Unfortunately, just recently, through some rather curious set of events, instead of hundreds of small pools, Jusenkyo has become a large lake.  How this affected the curses, no one knew and no one wanted to find out.

But, unknown to anyone, there is another danger that exists in Jusenkyo, a greater danger than falling into one of the pools.  Specifically, buried right underneath Jusenkyo.  Normally, this creature which most would call a demon, would come out and destroy anything and everything in existence.  It's power is such that at if it were to be released, it could destroy the world one morning and wonder what to do for the rest of the day.  And unfortunately, no one alive could have stood in its' path.  Fortunately, people from long ago knew it as well.   So they sealed it away, never to awaken.

That is the intention at least.  A crystal prison contained the vessel the demon inhabited.  A perfect six-sided star surrounded the crystal prison.  A glowing sphere on each point.  Once upon a time, they were so bright it was impossible to even look at them.  But now, only a dim glow remains.

Fortunately, since the entire seal and prison has long since been buried, no one has seen it, much less be curious enough to disturb the seal.  The bad news is that it has been so long that the 'seal' has deteriorated.

And so not even a fly was there to witness it when it happened.  One of the spheres of light cracked.  A wave of power exploded out to the surrounding area and continued on unobstructed through the water and on out, not losing any momentum.  In the closest villages, some inhabitants woke up, feeling the energy rushing through their bodies and fading.   As the wave of power continued to spread, shamans woke, martial artists in tune with their ki shivered, and animals spooked. 

In Phoenix Mountain, the newly reborn Lord of Phoenix Mountain woke up crying.  In the nearby kingdom of the Musk, the newly crowned king, Herb, paused in his training as he felt the rush of power.  In the Amazon village, the elders paused in their debate as the rush of power went through.

At the Cat Café all the way in Japan, Cologne paused in her cooking as she felt the magical energy flood through.  At the Tendo dojo, Ranma fell down hard from an aerial kata as the power rushed through, his training the only thing saving him from a broken neck.

Across the entire world, a few number of people felt the power as it rushed through.  Since it quickly faded, most attributed it to deja vu and dismissed it.  Among the select few, however, some took it more seriously.  But as they didn't really know anything, they couldn't really do anything, either, so it was a moot point.

Back in the valley, back at the point of origin of the disturbance, the other crystals, reeling from the sudden drain, flickered, their already dim glow faltering.

Inside its crystal prison, the creature stirred.

Outside, on the surface, the lake that used to be a large number of pools glowed and thrashed as if boiling and slowly, inhuman eyes opened.


	2. Remembrance (this used to be chapter1 an...

Balancing Act 

By Turtlehat

Disclaimer:  I don't own the characters of this story.  I don't own Ranma or Slayers.  

Note:  This used to be Chapter 1 and 1b.  I've decided to stick the two together.

I didn't aim to write a serious story or a long epic, drawn-out story.  So if that's what you're looking for, this is not it. I used to have a website where I posted the entire story.  But since I was unhappy with it, I am re-writing it as I post.  The beginning will basically stay the same.  Chapter 2 should start changing.

Chapter 1.  Remembrance 

Ranma was feeling edgy.  It has been a month now after his battle with Saffron, a month since he had lost his hope for a cure when Jusendo flooded.  With the loss of the only cure he knows, he had finally accepted the inevitable and accepted he will always be a 'half-girl'.  That was not the source of his uneasiness, though.  Since coming back from Jusendo, he had felt...'something.'  It started out a week ago when he felt something like a flood of power rush through.  He had asked the old ghoul about it but her response is that she didn't really know but that it may be a sign of another enemy coming.  It was like a small background noise in the natural chi flows, like the background music of a play.  It was as if nature is charged up.  He had asked everyone if they felt it, but only got dubious looks in reply.  Added to the craziness that normally makes up his life, he's decidedly on the defensive and tense.

So now Ranma sat on the top of the Tendo Dojo trying to get some peace and quiet.  Against all hope, after the failed wedding attempt, after the Phoenix incident, things had gotten back to what is normal before the incident.  As if nothing happened.  That fleeting moment of tenderness between him and Akane after the Jusendo incident had quickly passed, buried under the constant verbal battles and malletings between them.  The first two days after the wedding attempt has been unusually rough.  First, his father had again ambushed him in his sleep.  Not that it wasn't a new thing, but as he was still weak and disoriented from the wedding fiasco's damages, he wasn't able to properly defend himself.  Then Akane got the idea to cook for him every day (he thought it was a punishment for that failed wedding.)  That ended up in a fairly ugly scene as well.  Then his 'rivals' started attacking again.  It was as if fate has a grudge against him or something.  On top of it all is that charge he feels in the air.  

All in all, it was bad.  He's quickly reaching his limits.  Even his faith on the supposed 'love' for his mallet-happy fiancée is starting to be doubted.  Is he in 'love' with her or with the idea of belonging and having a place to call home?

It was just so typical.  There's not a day when he doesn't get beaten up, challenged, glomped and/or poisoned.  He was so tired of it all.  He was so depressed that unknowingly, he started to exhibit a greenish aura.  

*What can I do?* he thought despondently.  *I've been here for two years and what have I got?  I'm the best martial artist in my generation now, sure.  Heck, I can hold my own against the likes of Saffron!*  Then his momentarily-boosted ego deflated.  He sighed.  *I also got three or more fiancées and one wanna-be.  Rivals and enemies all over, more than I can count.  A mother who would behead me if I show signs of not being 'manly', whatever her wacko definition of a 'manly man' is.  A father who...better not think about that one.  Then there's Akane, who doesn't even listen.*  He sighed even more.  *It's just so unfair.  No one wants me just for myself.  I'm like a prize to all of them.  Everyone I know either wants to marry me, kill me, or make money off me.  Well, Kasumi doesn't, but she's different.  I wish I never got started.  I wonder what it would be like if I was born to different parents.  To have a regular home, with a mother and father who cares.  Maybe a brother or sister, or both.  Then have no curse, no daily attempts at my life.  Well, maybe a rival or two in the martial arts.  Then maybe have my own room...*

He was so involved fantasizing his 'ideal' life he failed to notice someone appear next to him sitting down.  They sat there for a while until Ranma came out of his daydream when a sigh from his hooded companion finally got his attention.  Startled, he did a double take and jumped up a meter off the roof and landed in a defensive stance.  

"Who are you?"  he demanded suspiciously.  To him suspicious-looking unknown stranger plus stranger seeming to know him equals rival or fiancée.  Neither prospects are something he wanted to deal with right now.

The figure remained sitting.  Then a feminine voice spoke out.  A voice that stopped him in his tracks as it sounded so very familiar.

"Don't you remember me, Ranma?"  The petite figure stood up and took off her hood facing him.  He took in the stranger's face and got a surprised look on his face.  The figure was definitely female, with large red, crimson eyes and long orange-red hair.  As if unlocking pandora's box, seeing her face and hearing her voice brought forth a rush of memories.  Memories that he didn't even know were there.

He remembered her now.  He remembered where he first met her.  Her and the others he came to call family in what seemed like another life…

***** Flashback *****

It was just after he got cursed in Jusenkyo.  After he realized what happened, he chased and beat up his panda father in rage then ran off.  He was angry, confused, ashamed, depressed, and most of all, miserable.  All through his life, he lived for the Art.  There was nothing else.  He lived and breathed the Art.  He had no friends, family (except for his father, who caused all of it), or any kind of life outside the Art.  And through it all, his Pops has taunted him whenever he fails 'Don't be such a girl!'  A girl, for him, is the total opposite of what he is supposed to be, the antithesis of his self-image.  And now he is one, thanks to that idiot father of his.  When he turned into a girl, all that he's worked for for so long, all that he was, it's all gone.  His own identity, his own self,  the only thing he had control over, has just vanished.  He ran, heedless of where he's going, not even seeing where he was going, not that he cared.  Now the boy-turned-girl just wanted to end it all.  

_In another part of reality, a being of immense power stirred.  Someone is calling.  Calling for oblivion with all its' being with a will strong enough to be heard.  Responding to the call, it moved._

Onna-Ranma ran, oblivious to everything, her despair deepening every step.  She didn't notice when her aura started to glow gold instead of the green of depression.  Heedless of everything, it intensified until with a golden flash, she vanished.

Onna-Ranma appeared in a formless space.  Startled, she momentarily forgot everything and looked around her.  There was no feature to orient herself by.  There was no up, down, left or right.  No forward or backwards.  The only thing in her perception is this golden light all around, like the rays of the sun had melted and she had fallen into it.  Then remembering what happened, she curled up into a ball and stayed there, sobbing quietly, not caring anymore about anything or everything.  To her, she had died and this is eternity.

After a while or at least seemed like a while, she realized someone's arms were holding her, patting her hair and back in soothing movements.  Sensing a sympathetic spirit like that from a half-remembered dream, she latched on and cried some more, not even bothering to discover her comforter and not caring in the least.  All she knew was that the hands that patted her hair and stroked her back was present and gave silent comfort.  Her body wracked in crying.  It was a total breakdown.

After what seemed like an eternity, she calmed down and struggled out of the comforting embrace.  Wiping her eyes, she looked up to see a sad-eyed redheaded girl with crimson eyes and long orange-red hair.  She was wearing a beige long-sleeved shirt and black pants.  A black cape and assorted jewelry finished the costume.  On her head, she wore a black headband. She looked to be in her late teens.  

"Feeling better?" she asked, as she looked onna-Ranma over.  Ranma nodded and wiped her eyes with the back of her hands, now feeling embarrassed at her breakdown.

"Sorry for cryin' on ya and all.  Where am I?  Who're you?  Where'd ya come from?"  She looked around and found the same formless, golden space around.  Except for the two of them, there seemed to be nothing else.  Except for that golden light around them.

"This place is called the Sea of Chaos."  The stranger said.  

"…?" onna-Ranma could only stare blankly, confused.

"Do you remember what happened to you?"  the girl asked curiously.

"How can I forget?" she replied bitterly.  She remembered, all right.  She just wished she didn't.

"Well, what happened to you made you feel so bad that you called for oblivion with your whole being.  You have such a strong will that your call was answered by the one who was the source of all things.  SHE brought you here."  Onna-Ranma stared at her uncomprehendingly.  Then she heard 'source of all things' and gasped.

"Kami-sama...Am I dead?"  she whispered, shocked.  Then a thought occurred to her.  The cursed martial artist gulped and moved her hand to her chest, patting, eyes bulging at the soft bulges that wasn't supposed to be there.

"In a way, yes."  Seeing her shocked look, she explained.

"Then how come I'm still a girl?!!!"  onna-Ranma was incredulous, feeling a bit hysterical.  If this was the afterlife, then it was worse than he ever thought!  Now he'll be a girl forever!  He was about to get really hysterical when the stranger spoke up again with a vague wave of a hand.

"Let's just say for now that your will was strong enough to call for self-destruction and oblivion that it was granted to you.  But the one who controls all things, and is the source of all things, decided to let you live anyway and I suppose you keep your curse."  Seeing as the cursed martial artist was starting to get a glazed look of incomprehension in her eyes, she asked, amused  "Are you even paying attention?"

Onna-Ranma's eyes snapped back to attention and shook her head, yes.  The stranger looked at her doubtingly.

"So who're you?  What'cha doing here?"  she was curious now, not completely understanding the stranger's answer.

"Why, I'm here to help you, of course." Without warning, they both vanished.

***

They appeared in a very nice bedroom.  It wasn't rich by any means, with it having only a simple wooden bed, a dresser, vanity with a mirror and a couple of chairs.  Most people would have called it plain and simple, if not downright bare.  But to the cursed martial artist, who had lived practically his entire life on the road, camping, it was luxurious.  She looked around, orienting herself, subconsciously marking where the door and windows are and noting how easy it would be to escape if needed.

"This is your room now.  Why don't you put your things away and have a look around.  I'll be downstairs in the kitchen when you're done" her host said as she walked out of the room.

Onna-Ranma couldn't believe it.  She was giving him this room?  Absently noting her backpack beside her, she wandered around.  The furniture was simple, wooden furniture - very sturdy.  The blankets and pillows arranged on the bed looked very inviting.  There was a single window with a comfortable chair next to it.  An empty bookcase next to it hinted to the purpose of the chair, even though it was totally lost to onna-Ranma.  Wandering to the window, she looked out.  She didn't see much, as it opened up to a grove of trees.  She could almost say that they were in a forest or something.  Wandering out the door, she paused at the hallway.  Then figuring that her host did say to 'look around', she peeked into the other rooms.  

Opening the door nearby, she figured it must be another guest bedroom, as it looked almost identical to the one she came from.  Finding nothing interesting, she opened another door.  This time, she found what she assumed to be the restroom.  What's strange, though was that it seemed to have no faucet.  There was a furo, but no faucet there, either.  There was no sign of lights, either.  Just candlesticks everywhere.  She may not be familiar with the modern world, but even she knew about regular plumbing and electricity.  *Strange.  Maybe we're in the back of China or something?  That must be it.*  She decided they probably were so far away from civilization they couldn't get electricity or nothin'.  Shrugging it off, she explored the last room.  Opening it, she decided it was probably her host's room.  There were clothes everywhere as well as trinkets and such.  Old-looking books and scrolls were tucked into overflowing bookcases.  The bed was enormous, with plush pillows and blankets tossed every which way.  Then she noticed what was on one corner of the room.  Her eyes almost popped out of their sockets at the large pile of gold coins and gems just lying there.  Before she knew it, she had walked to it and was about to grab some before she caught himself.  *I am not my old man* she told herself.  Looking around guilty, heart pounding, she walked slowly, almost forcing herself, to the door and closing it.  Now that she was safely out of the room, she leaned on the door, calming herself.  *What the heck was all that gold lying there for?  Anyone could've just gone in and taken it!*  Trying not to think of the gold, she walked downstairs.  The downstairs had a similar style as most of the upstairs though with a bit of differences.  The furniture stayed simple and functional, yet the furnishings have a touch of…eccentricity.  There were little touches here and there that defined the place.  A portrait here and there in extravagant frames, a …colorful…statue of some sort in a corner, mismatched curtains, oddly arranged flowers in elegant vases.  All in all, it felt…homey.  She was about to do more exploring when she smelled food.  Typical of a Saotome, she promptly forgot everything and followed her nose.

Her nose led her to the kitchen where she found her host waiting for her with a veritable banquet on the table.  Drooling, she stared at the food, suddenly becoming aware of how hungry she is.  Being thoroughly familiar with her look, her host invited her to eat.  Immediately, she was on the food like a rabid animal.  After she was done and all the food gone, she sat on a chair, patted her stomach and sighed in contentment.

"Well, now that you're fed, care to tell me your name?"  Her host wryly asked.  Onna-Ranma started and nervously rubbed the back of his head.

"Ranma.  I'm Ranma Saotome, heir to the Saotome school of Anything Goes.  Who're you?"  he asked.  He finally realized that they never did introduce themselves.

"My name's Lina and you're at my home."  Her host answered then took on a lecturing tone.  "We're in the border between the kingdoms of Ralteague and Dils.  I found you in the Sea of Chaos and now you're staying here with me until I figure out what you are here for and why.  Any questions?"

Onna-Ranma blinked at Lina.  Then blinked again.  Seeing the blank look and thoroughly familiar with it, Lina explained again, this time in more simpler terms.  "I'm Lina.  This is my home.  You stay here until I find a way to get you home.  Okay?"

Onna-Ranma blinked again before nodding slowly as she digested the information.  "Where's my old man?"  Finally noticing the absence of the one person she's always has been with before.  Lina shook her head.  "I'm afraid he's not here.  Very few people go to the Sea of Chaos and come back.  He probably thinks you're dead already.  Sorry." 

Lina watched as comprehension sank into the martial artist's eyes.  Ranma sank onto the floor in despair and misery.  Lina immediately ran forward and took her into her arms, crooning comforting tones.  They sat for a while until Ranma put herself together again.  Lina gave her a handkerchief to wipe her eyes with.

Rubbing her eyes, Ranma looked at Lina and sadly said "Ya must think me pathetic now, huh?  Always cryin' on ya.  But with Pops gone, I'm really alone now."  She looked down at her hands, like a sad child.  Lina's mothering instincts went overdrive.  Giving Ranma a bone-crushing hug, she tried to reassure the depressed cursed boy. 

"Why don't you tell me about it, Ranma?  It sometimes helps to let it out."  Ranma nodded and started to tell her life story.  Starting with losing her mother at a young age (to her point of view), her buddy Ucchan, the cat-fist and all the 'training' that followed, the petty crimes, going to school only for short periods of time since they were usually on the run, and even more insane 'training', Jusenkyo, losing the only person, no matter how bad, that was the only constant in her life, the loss of identity being cursed caused.  Now she's just a weak girl.  Lina alternated between wanting to comfort the cursed martial artist, wanting to kill the father, and wanting to strangle Ranma for his gender stereotyping.  She silently vowed to get even with both.  But for now, Ranma needs comfort and that she gave.

"Don't worry, Ranma.  You're not alone.  From now on, you're part of my family, okay?"  She reassured him as she decided on a course of action.

"Really?  But you don't even know me!"  Ranma gazed at her in astonishment.  No one has ever offered such a thing to her before.  The only one that had gotten close to her in the past was her old buddy Ucchan.  And even then, they had to leave not long after.

"Doesn't matter!  Even if you were a bandit in the past, you're family now and families stick together, you hear?"  The open welcome, even if it sounded strange to him, was over whelming.  "Why?" he had to ask.  Seeing as he needed to hear the reasons, she replied, "I don't need a reason, Ranma.  It's a choice I've made and for better or worse, you're stuck with it.  Your coming from the Sea of Chaos just reinforces my decision.  So you'll stay here and be family and be happy.  Got it?"

Ranma happily nodded in acceptance.  Of course, the flaming eyes Lina was directing at her had nothing to do with it.  Neither does that scary, demon-like expression on her face.  Nope.  Not at all.

"Good.  Now before I introduce you to the others, we need to talk about your curse.  From what I can see, your curse is not stable and seemed to be water-based.  I'd theorize that hot water might turn you back into a boy…"  she didn't get to finish as onna-Ranma suddenly grabbed the hot tea nearby and dumped it on her head.  Instant male Ranma.  Crying in joy, he hopped around in celebration at his 'cure' when he heard Lina casually say 'Aqua create' and suddenly, he was doused with cold water, effectively stopping the impromptu celebration.  Blinking owlishly in confusion, he stared at the other redhead in inquiry.

"As I was saying, hot water will turn you back into a boy.  But cold water will turn you back into a girl."  Lina finished dryly.  Onna-Ranma gulped and looked down at her chest.  Sure enough, the breasts were back.

AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Needless to say, he or she, screamed.

Later, after he calmed down and got turned male again, Lina sat him down for a talk.

"You have to learn how to be a girl now."

"What'cha mean?!  I just won't go near cold water, that's all!"  he was still in denial.

"Trust me.  You can't avoid it.  That's the nature of a curse.  You won't be able to avoid cold water now."  Her authoritive tone brooked no argument.  He slumped down in defeat, not knowing how to respond to the factual statement.  Can't fight a girl, after all.

"Now that's done, why don't you rest up and I'll introduce you to the family tomorrow, okay?"

By now, it was getting late and the sun was about to go down.  Noticing that it was getting darker in the room, he looked around for matches to light the candles on the tables when the light went on.  Looking around, he spotted the light shining in the middle of the ceiling and thought at first that the technology here must be very advanced.  He didn't even see the light bulb there earlier.  He was about to dismiss it when he saw Lina lighting the candles without the aid of matches.  Actually, she would just point a finger to each one and they would light up.  After arranging them in a pleasant way around the room so that not one will glare at eye-level, the light in the ceiling went out.  Startled from staring at Lina, he looked up to a bare ceiling.  There was nothing there at all.  It was just a plain, wooden ceiling.  No way to hide a light bulb there.  Turning now-large eyes to Lina, who was now carrying another candlelight to the kitchen, he hurried after her.

"L-Lina, what just happened?  How'd ya light all them candles?  What was that?"  he stuttered after her.  She looked at him strangely.  She couldn't think of what could upset him like that.  Then she realized what he was talking about and started laughing.  Ranma glared at the laughing Lina.  He didn't think anything was funny.

She just kept laughing at him.  "That's just a simple light spell, Ranma.  And I lit those candles using a very _very_ small fireball.  Nothing to worry about."

Ranma finally understood.  "You mean magic?"

She nodded in reply, amused at his reaction.  "Yes.  Magic.  I can teach you, if you want…" she offered casually.  

Ranma was torn.  It wasn't martial arts, after all.  But it was just too cool…  Seeing his indecision, she couldn't help but taunt him.

"Tell you what.  You don't have to learn magic if you don't want to.  You might not even be capable of magic, after all.  Of course, with magic being superior to martial arts, you'll always be beaten, but…" she trailed off as Ranma stiffened in outrage.

"Magic is NOT superior to martial arts!  I'll show you!" he glared at her in indignation at the perceived insult.  Lina grinned, now knowing how to push his buttons.

"Is that a challenge?" A small smirk appeared at the redhead's face.  Immediately, a shield formed around the sorceress, which Ranma, unfortunately, couldn't see.  He could sense something though, he just didn't know what it was.  "Come and get me."  Lina taunted.  He stiffened, his back straight.  "I don't fight girls."  He informed her haughtily, his back ramrod straight.  Lina's eyes narrowed briefly with anger and suddenly he had to jump to the side as a fist-sized fireball appeared out of nowhere and landed on the spot where he was just standing.  He twisted in the air and landed facing her, face full of outrage.

"Hey!  What'cha do that for, ya uncute witch?!" he yelled at her.  Lina's eyes narrowed and another brief look of anger appeared on her face.  Unfortunately, or rather, fortunately for Ranma, Lina's very experienced in combat and the 'insult-your-enemy-to-let-them-attack-mindlessly' technique.

The sorceress just smiled.  So Ranma can dish out the insult technique, huh?  Let's see if he can take it.  "Oh come on, Ranma-chan!  Is the big-shot martial artist being beaten by a little girl who can't defend herself?" she kept taunting him.  Lina suddenly whipped out a small dagger and threw it at him.  Watching her aim, he didn't even bother moving as he saw it won't even hit him.  It hit his shadow instead.  Curious as to what that was for, he glanced back at her and saw her grin at him evilly and picked up a large statue nearby and prepared to throw it at his direction.  It looked very heavy.  Gulping nervously, he waved his arms back and forth as he tried to placate her.

"I didn't mean it!  Really!  You're not an ugly witch or nothin'!…" he silently vowed to himself to not get her angry as he turned to run as she hurled the statue at him.  He was confident he was going to be able to avoid it, only to be stopped dead on his tracks as something seemed to hold him in place.  Looking back in panic, his heart almost leaped out of his chest as he came face to face with the statue a finger's width from his face, seemingly just floating there.  Gulping and trying to calm his thundering heart, he looked down at what was holding him and stared at the dagger she had thrown earlier embedded on the very corner of his shadow.  Apparently, that little thing was holding him in place.

He breathed in relief as the statue floated back to where it was and settled down.  Sighing in relief, he bent down to pluck the dagger from the floor, only to jump as he got zapped when his fingers touched the hilt.

"OWWW!!!!  Hey!  What's the deal with the knife?  And that's not fair, ya know."  His sullen tone was too much.  Lina broke down laughing and walked to him, casually picking up the knife with no apparent discomfort and placing it back on it's sheath at her waist.

"That's the point, Ranma.  Magic makes a fight unfair against someone with no magic.  With just martial arts, you'd have to touch your opponent.  That's much too limiting.  You'd never be able to fight effectively against monsters and such if you always have to touch them to damage them.  What if they can't even be touched?  Or at a distance?"

"What do you mean?"

"Okay.  Let's see.  For example, how do you kill a monster made out of shadow?" Ranma blinked.  That's never been a scenario before.  But then again, magic hasn't been a factor before.  She tried to think of it as a challenge.  *shadow…shadow…*  Then she got an idea.

"How about light!  If you have light, shadows disappear!"  

"That's right!"  she congratulated him.  Before he could get the satisfaction of a right answer, she asked.  "What if it's nighttime?  How will you get enough light to destroy a large enough shadow?"  Ranma thought some more.  

"More light?" came the tentative answer.  

"Right.  But _how_ do you get more light?" 

"…get a really big flashlight?" he offered lamely.

Lina got confused at the unfamiliar word.  "What's a 'flashlight'?" 

Now Ranma got confused.  *She don't know what a flashlight is?  Wait a second, come to think of it, I haven't seen any sign of modern civilization here…* his mind ran through several possible scenarios.

"Lina, have you heard of light bulbs?"  At the shake of Lina's head, she tried again.  "cars?  Airplanes? Telephone? Radio?"  At the negative replies and Lina's more and more confused look, she stopped and thought about it.  *Am I in another world or something?  Even in the most out-of-the-way places me an' pop went to, the people there knew what all of those were.  An' here they do magic and stuff.  I didn't see nobody do nothin' like those anywhere.*

Lina's thoughts were already along those lines.  Ranma's unfamiliarity to magic was startling.  Even when she had visited the 'outer' world, everyone _knew_ about magic.  Sure they might not be able to do much past _Lighting_ and _Recovery_, but they still knew about it.  That and the fact of finding Ranma in the Sea of Chaos, it's not a huge leap of the imagination to decide he may be from another world or dimension.  She shrugged it off, though.  L-sama must know what she's doing.

"I guess it's safe to say that you probably came from another world or dimension."  Anyone else might have freaked out at the idea.  It just goes to show just how unusual these two were when he just nodded in reply, agreeing.  Lina brightened.  "But since you're here now, you're going to have to learn how to live like the rest of us!  You, my dear, are going to learn magic."  She declared.  

***

By the end of the first night, Ranma already adjusted to his new 'home.'  After accepting he might not go back to his old 'home' and that he's probably at another world, he didn't think of it anymore.  It just wasn't that important anymore.  Having no ties to his previous life except for an idiot for a father, he had no problems adapting to the idea.  All he remembered in the past was being on the road with a father who continuously betrayed his trust and put him through hell in the name of 'training'.  First with the Cat Fist, then with the constant insane training methods, theft, and vagrancy his 'father' employed, all in the name of the 'art'.  To him, there was nothing tying him 'back there'.  Lina seemed to accept him despite the curse and the time they spent together during his breakdown has created an emotional tie between the two of them already.  To someone who was starving for affection and emotional support, Lina's offer of 'adopting' him was a gift from the gods.  He has a place to stay here and a 'family' who was willing to adopt him.

In the morning, after helping themselves to a huge breakfast, Lina decided to introduce him to the rest of the 'family' and Ranma got his first look at the 'town'.  It was basically a small village, though primitive looking.  It reminded him of the small towns they encountered in the backwoods of China, only a bit richer.  After all, not a lot of people in China wear expensive jewelry as part of their everyday attire.

Lina towed him from house to house, introducing everyone.  To his surprise, he found out that basically, the entire town was 'family', though no one said what Lina's relationship to all of them were.  When he commented on it, those nearby jokingly said that they were the town of Dra-mata, which made Lina chase threateningly after whoever said it.  It was all good-natured until someone decided to tease Lina by calling her 'oh great great great grandmother' and got a fireball in reply.  After the smoking instigator got carted off, everything got back to normal.  It did make him realize that everyone seemed to do what Lina said.  It was strange to see, for him, to see a teenager ordering everyone around and there would be no questions asked.  He filed it away to think of later.

Everyone was very welcoming.  Lina introduced him as the newest member of the family and that he came from the Sea of Chaos, he's staying with me and oh yeah, he's a girl, too.  Upon hearing the strange introduction, people would either just blink and get on with their lives, or would blink and ask him questions upon questions 'Do you remember where you came from?', 'What did she mean you're a girl, too?' or 'What was it like?' were common ones.  Wherever they went, they were served food, she would show off the curse (to his dismay and embarrassment), and would get sympathetic looks.  Actually, Ranma was amazed at how well they all took to the curse, most of them only remarking briefly on how odd it is but how it can be worse.  Despite many protests, they completed their rounds.

***

The following days became a blur.  Lina had decided he needed to learn to socialize first before any kind of magic lessons.  "Being able to cast the most powerful magic in the world doesn't mean anything unless you know when and where to use it" she pointedly told him.  Since he was not that sure he wanted to learn magic anyway, he didn't protest.  But her idea on 'socializing' him was what he protested on.  But not being able to argue against her (she always seemed to manage to goad him into doing what she wanted), he reluctantly complied and found himself having the time of his life.

Everyday, after breakfast, she would leave him with one family or another for chores and to help in whatever way.  He was turned into a waiter/waitress, cook, babysitter, weapon repairer, clerk's assistant, cleanup person, and general jack-of-all-trades' apprentice.  Per Lina's instructions, in the afternoons, he would be tossed out with the some of the other kids with the instructions of 'show him how to have fun' until dinner.  And since the other kids had a 'talk' with Lina before being tossed with him, they took him under their wing despite his awkward beginning attempts at friendship.  They took to roaming the forest, showing him the strange creatures that lived there and how to handle some of the more dangerous ones.  Of course, they had to first teach him to not insult everyone and brag about how good he is.  They made sure Lina heard about that 'lesson', to which she had laughed at all night.  After dinner, he would then relax and talk about his day with Lina for a few hours.  She would ask him about anything and everything he did that day.  It seemed like he became like a pet project for Lina.  He would then spend the rest of the night with the books, to his dismay.  He talked more and more to Lina just to avoid the study sessions.  

With no competition for food and bedspace, he found himself well-rested and fed everyday, giving him more energy through the day and allowing him to get up earlier.   And since they didn't leave him enough time for his martial arts, he started to get up early and practice before breakfast.  

To him, it was as if someone had turned back the clock and let him be a kid again.  Martial arts were not the only thing to do all day and he was encouraged to run wild with the other 'kids'.  Except for being stuck as a girl some times, it was the best time in his life.  But since they didn't give him enough time to practice every day, he took his father's advice 'treat everything as martial arts' to heart.  For example, waitressing became strength, balance and coordination training.  Cleanup became martial arts as he jumped and leaped over obstacles, strength and speed training as he rolled under the tables to clean the floor.  Dishwashing became speed training.  He'd chop wood with bare hands.  Everyone was amazed at his antics and performance.  Soon, he had a steady number of students who wanted to learn, including Lina herself.  To his dismay, though, she often 'cheated' by staying in the air longer than gravity would have allowed.

In their evening sessions, Lina filled him in about his new world.  He found out that there were at basically three races: Mazoku, Dragons, and humans (I'm not quite sure where the elves fit in).  The Mazoku were the race of evil, demons and monsters, serving the god 'Shabranigdo.'  While he'd call many of the creatures in the forest 'monsters', the real 'monster' race were very different and much more dangerous.  Those things in the forests were just beasts.  Dragons are similar.  While there may be some dragons around that are just 'beasts' (some were even hunted down as a delicacy, to which he turned green), the actual dragon race were intelligent and powerful, serving the god 'Ceipheed'.  She taught him what to expect and what creatures are out there, to which he was surprised.  After all, he didn't really enounter any 'monster' in the forest, just harmless strange-looking creatures.  When he said so, she replied that the only reason he didn't see them here was because people and creatures avoid this entire area altogether.  When he asked why, she told him it's because of her reputation.  She told him stories of her life, her wild younger days (she still looked like she's in her teens) and the friends who fought with her.  She used to be infamous, given names such as 'Bandit Killer', 'Enemy of all who lives', 'Destruction Poster Child', 'Girl who spooks dragons', hence the name 'Dra-matta'.  She had saved and almost destroyed the world a number of times.  Of course, nowadays, she doesn't bandit-hunt anymore, preferring research.  She then revealed that she was basically immortal, due to an event that happened when she was just seventeen.  All she said of that time was that her late husband had given all he had to get her back.  Of course, that explained why everyone here was 'family' as they were all basically her descendants.

It was not all fun and games, though.  To his horror, Lina had him learn to be comfortable in his girl-form, going as far as freezing him in it for days at a time.  She insisted after the first few incidents when he would parade around topless after a workout or after being splashed.  He learned how to act and dress as a girl.  He also learned about 'that time of the month', the hard way, after being stuck in female-form for a month.  He had nightmares about that incident for a while.  It almost rivaled the cat-fist training.   Lina fought an uphill battle with his foot-in-mouth disease.  To her dismay, he can't seem to grasp the idea that he can't just say everything he thinks to everyone and that not all girls are helpless.  She was determined to teach him that very valuable lesson and _soon_.

***

It was the end of the second month when he met the other 'occupant' of the house.  He had gone up to his room for his study session when he heard Lina shriek downstairs.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"XELLOS YOU FRUITCAKE!!!" 

He jumped out of bed at the banging sounds and explosions coming from the living room.  Frantically rushing down the stairs, he jumped into the living room in a ready stance, expecting a life and death struggle, only to stop dead on his tracks to see Lina holding a purple-haired man with a red-orbed tipped wooden staff in a headlock.  She was swearing up a storm as she seemed to try to twist the stranger's head off while the stranger was protesting, almost whining, which seemed to make her even madder.  Hearing and seeing him arrive, the two struggling people paused.  

"Just a second, Ranma" Lina calmly smiled at him as if she wasn't trying to wring someone's neck.  She then proceeded to beat up the stranger, who never lost the smile on his face even as he was plastered onto the ground.  When she was done, she calmly dusted her hands off his cape and smiled in satisfaction.

"What's going on?" came his bewildered question.  The room was a mess, the furniture broken, the walls were dented and has holes.  Even the ceiling was scorched.

"Xellos just surprised me, that's all.  Nothing to worry about.  I'd like you to meet Xellos, Mr. Trickster Priest himself.  He comes by once in a while to visit.  I don't know how long he'll be here this time, though."  She smiled as Xellos peeled himself and his staff off the ground, none the worse for wear, much to his surprise.  He gaped, not knowing what to say or think.

"Why Lina-chan, I didn't know about a new guest."  He kept his eyes closed as he grinned in a friendly manner at Ranma.  He was standing up already, as if nothing had happened.

"Now you do.  Xellos, I'd like you to meet Ranma, the newest member of our family.  He'll be staying here so you better behave yourself."  Xellos just smiled more and tried his best to look harmless.

"But Lina-chan, I always behave myself."

"Right.  Behave like a fruitcake, you mean.  Now fix this mess you've made!"  She glared at him and indicated the annihilated living room.

"But you were the one who did it, not me!"  He protested.

"You made me do it so it was your fault.  And you know as well as I do you did it just for a good meal!  Now fix it!"  Her glare intensified as she tapped her foot in impatience.  Knowing it was a losing battle, he sighed and waved an arm around the room.  A bright light appeared, blinding them for a split second.  When it cleared, everything was back to normal, as it was earlier that evening.

"Good.  Now I need your help on something.  Ranma, go back up and study.  I'll fill you in later."  She dragged the still-smiling Xellos off and left Ranma just standing there, not really knowing what happened.

***

Xellos' arrival heralded the end of his 'free time'.  The next morning Lina started his 'real' lessons.  To his dismay, his first lesson was weapons and fighting against women.  Despite his many protests and remarks about a real martial artist doesn't use weapons, he found himself in that field facing a female.  It didn't take very long.  Lina started by getting her granddaughter, 'grandma Celia' to 'spar' with him.  Refusing to hit a girl, much more an old woman, he tried to run.  After the 'old woman' beat him around a couple dozen times, he started to retaliate.  To his surprise, none of his hits connected and he couldn't even disarm her!  The 'old woman' was insanely fast.  It was a very depressing 'battle', if it can even be called that.  A few more hours of this and he finally relented.  Her being spotless and not even winded while he was down and battered made it even more embarrassing.  Finally, when he couldn't move anymore, he convinced himself that since his 'pop' would have disapproved, it would be a great thing.  

So they taught him the art of swordsmanship, even though he was still reluctant to take a sword.  Fortunately, 'swordsmanship' to them involved all weapons from daggers, clubs, bow and arrows, axe to large broadswords. To his amazement, they showed him techniques that he was able to apply to the rest of his art.  His overall speed, strength and endurance increased, though he couldn't seem to match Grandma Celia's speed.  Before long, a long wooden staff was his regular companion.

Lina became as a mother/sister/sensei combined for him.  Xellos, who seemed to be around all the time (though Lina denied any sort of relationship,) became his other tutor/mentor.  After establishing he really did have a large capacity for magic, Lina started teaching him some basic spells.  By the end of the first week of magic lessons, they were incorporated into his Anything-goes style.  And being able to get hot water (via spell) whenever he wants made the curse less embarrassing (especially with a trickster Xellos around.)

Xellos taught him when to keep his mouth shut.  Not that he wanted to, mind you, Lina 'convinced' him.  It also didn't help the trickster to have an accomplice who couldn't keep a secret to save his life.  For Ranma, it was reminiscent of his previous 'training' under his 'pop'.  He definitely learned quickly.  The mazoku had him learn tactics and had him participate in practical jokes, particularly on a golden dragon named Filia who lived in a 'nearby' town (since they teleported there, he didn't really know how far it is.)  "For training" he said.  Filia took most of these in stride, but blamed that 'filthy mazoku' Xellos for 'corrupting' Ranma.  That's when he found out that Xellos was actually a Mazoku.  When he asked Lina later on, she explained that normally, Dragons and Mazoku are mortal enemies.  Not really understanding, he took it in stride as just another peculiarity okay to overlook since Lina seemed to accept him.

As for the Cat-Fist, it got triggered eventually.  Unfortunately for his opponents, though, he uses some of his magic while under the Cat-fist.  It's not unusual to see cat-Ranma throwing fireballs or other fire and wind attacks at those he considered threats.  Seeing what he can do with it and calming him down, Lina instantly latched onto the idea he should learn to control it or at least partially - just think, instead of ki-claws, to have an elmekia lance or some such spell at your fingertips.  A re-usable elmekia lance!  The possibilities took Lina to bliss for a few moments.

Much to everyone else's chagrin and to Lina's pride, he adopted Lina's teenage behavior.  It wasn't long before they started hearing of the new bandit-hunter.  Apparently, he also adopted Lina's motto of 'bandits have no rights', though he never went as far as kill them, but merely humiliate them.  "There are a lot worse things than death.  Not to mention more fun" he would say when asked why he won't kill.  He soon had his own reputation as bandits and creatures learned to give him a wide berth, if not run away from him altogether.  The already infamous reputation of the 'family' just got more infamous.  He spent many summer days roaming the countryside with his friends.

Lina was so proud of him she insisted he start calling her sister.

It was one morning when he woke up when the house was rocked by a powerful blast nearby.  Falling off his bed, he scrambled out of his room and looked out the window.  The last thing he saw was the sight of a powerfully built man with a pair of ice-chilling, determined eyes staring at him.  Then his world went white.

***

Back in the world he came from, the redheaded girl that he was was running, her heart breaking and wishing for oblivion with all her being, glowing golden.  Suddenly, in mid-stride, she vanished, only to re-appear a moment later standing bewildered.  She blinked a couple of times as the glow around her form faded, not knowing what had happened.  She remembered being cursed by that worthless piece of scum he used to call father, then running, then running some more and then...what just happened?  There was something very important... something missing, as if she had lost something very precious…She stood there for a while, trying to figure it out when a panda caught up and started berating the cursed martial artist on being so like a girl to run away just because of a little curse.  A surprisingly vicious and short fight later to which he was surprised at his speed, reflexes and strength, the Jusenkyo guide caught up to them and led them towards the nearest village that happened to be full of Chinese Amazons.  The rest, as they say, is history.

*****  Finally End Flashback  *****

It's been a couple of years since he arrived here at the Tendo's.  Two long years without the memories of his time with her and the ones he came to call family.  With his memories returned, he regained the maturity he took so long to gain when he was with them.  With it, his eyes opened to the magic around him.  He stood there for a few minutes in shock, as he coped and incorporated the forgotten memories into his mind.  With the returning memories came the emotional support he's been missing.  A new Ranma opened his eyes.  

It was a rush.  Inside, he winced as he saw and realized what he's done in the past two years.  Shoving that thought aside for now, he stared at the female in front of him. 

"s-sis?" his eyes were suspiciously moist as he asked in a disbelieving tone. 

"What happened?  Why did I come back?"  His voice caught in his throat.  Not wanting to cry, he fought down his emotions.  She went over and gave him a hug.  He returned it with favor, trembling from the flow of emotions.

"I didn't want to forget you or anyone else.  Why?  Why'd I forget?  What happened to me?"  He whispered, tears in his voice.

"Shh.  It's okay, Ranma."  She tried to comfort him, patting him on the back while hugging him.  It was so familiar and yet so new that he trembled from the flow of emotions it produced.  They remained there for a while in comfortable and happy reunion.

***

A while later, after he calmed down, they sat down again to talk.  

"I think it's time I explain some things to you."  She said.  He didn't answer.  His silence was answer enough as he waited.

"The day you left was the day the mazoku attacked."  His eyes grew large.  He turned incredulous eyes on her.

"WHAT!?"

"Yes.  Apparently, they decided that it was time to destroy the world or something.   So they attacked.  You just happened to be one of the first ones they got.  Fortunately, we were able to save you in time and sent you back."

"Oh, man!  I didn't even get a shot in!  That's not fair!"  He yelled in indignation, outraged at not being included in the fight.  It must have been a spectacular fight!  Lina blinked, then laughed joyfully.  She had missed her little brother.  He gave her an annoyed look that only prompted her to laugh more.  Then he realized what he just said.  "Did I just say that?"  he asked sheepishly then joined her in laughter.  After a while, a thought came and he sobered up and asked.

"But how come I had to go back?  And why did you wait until now to come?  Why did I forget?"  Looking at his serious and angry face, Lina smirked and replied, wagging her finger at him.

"Now, that...is a secret."  

He face-faulted, landing heavily on the roof with a loud 'thunk'.  Lina laughed at him.  

"You've been around Xellos-san too long, sis."  He grouched at her as he rubbed his head where it hit.

"Oh shut up and give me a hug.  I missed you."

"I missed you too, sis."  He gave her another brief hug, still reeling at the memories he had just gotten back.

He didn't realize just how much noise they were making.  In the house, people woke up from the noise.  They were hugging each other when the Tendos walked out of the house and looked at the roof.  There on the roof was Ranma, holding a girl in his arms.  As usual, mayhem was to follow.  The difference is that this is a new Ranma.

The Tendos looked at the couple hugging and smiling at each other on the roof.  Akane burned in jealousy and anger.  How dare he flirt with another one!  That womanizing pervert!  Climbing up to the roof, she approached the couple.

Nabiki first thought that maybe Ranma's evil girl-side has escaped again.  Then she saw the face and hair of the girl and concluded that it was not.  It was definitely another girl.  For one thing, the new girl is not as well endowed as Ranma's girl-half.  She started to think of ways to profit from this as she mentally calculated the possible repair jobs that will be needed soon.

Kasumi looked at the two and just said "Oh my.  We have a visitor.  I better go make tea."  She left to make said tea.

Soun stood still in shock, mouth hanging open.

Genma was still asleep inside the house.

Akane approached the couple, hammer ready.  Ranma watched her, the girl he had thought he loved, approach with her all-too-familiar hammer and angry aura blazing.  The feelings he had attached to her had been straining for the last couple of years.  When he had first arrived, he had instantly fallen in love with her with her gentle and generous offer of friendship.  With no memories of his time with Lina and family, he had reverted to being as he was.  Being starved for affection and emotionally unstable, he had latched onto her as a drowning man would latch onto a lifeline.  However, her anger, impatience and insults, her mistrust of him and constant blame had eroded that tie.  With the return of his memories and the re-establishment of his emotional stability, that tie had completely broken.  Now all he saw was an angry girl.

"Ranma you pervert!  How dare you flirt with another girl!" she growled.  

Lina stood there, looking at Akane curiously while Ranma just watched sadly.  He was torn between wanting to protect Lina from Akane and protecting Akane from Lina.  Either way, it wasn't a good deal for him.  His stalling was cut short when he saw Lina lifting one arm and was about to point at the raging girl.  He panicked and jumped between them, waving his hands frantically.

"Now, now, Akane.  It's not what you think..." he tried to explain when the mallet swung.

Akane saw Ranma step protectively in front of the girl and saw red.  She thought *How dare he cheat me behind my back!  And now he's defending the tramp!  From me!  And to think I was actually willing to go through that wedding!  Now I know why he didn't really want to get married!  That Cassanova!  That pervert!  To think, all this time, he's had someone else!*

"RANMA NO BAKA!"  She swung the mallet, expecting it to hit, as usual.  This time, though, he was having none of it.  He just reunited with his 'sister' and no one is going to ruin it or try to harm her.  As the hammer came towards him, he struck out with one hand, grabbing her wrist and in a twisting motion, disarmed her.  As the hammer fell, he caught it with the same hand and tossed it away.  In the same motion, the he gently struck the open palm of his other hand at her chest, pushing her away.  Akane stumbled back.  She wasn't hurt, but it was the fact that Ranma, the one who went to ridiculous lengths to not fight girls even when they're trying to kill him, actually 'attacked' that shocked her.  She stood there a moment in shock before running back to her room, crying.  Ranma was about to follow her when there was a hand on his shoulder stopping him.  Looking back, he saw Lina shaking her head at him, silently telling him to leave her for now.  Understanding, his shoulders drooped down and he sat down, depressed.

Soun finally recovered from his shock and went into full demon-head attack.  "RANMA!  HOW COULD YOU CHEAT ON YOUR FIANCEE!!!"

Lina looked at the demon-head and drew her dagger.  Curious, she poked it lightly with the point.  It collapsed like a popped balloon.  Soun stood there, astonishment written on his face.  Only Kasumi ever did that to him.  

"This is gonna cost you, Ranma"  Nabiki called out from the sidelines.

Lina then decided she'd had enough of this fiasco and cast a mind control spell on Soun and Nabiki and had them think this was all a dream and go inside and go to sleep.  Their eyes glazed over as the spell took effect.  Obeying the commands, they went inside and promptly went to sleep.  Seeing it, Ranma relaxed, realizing the situation is under control now.

"Hello there.  You must be tired.  Would you like some tea?"  Lina jumped as Kasumi appeared next to her holding a tray with a tea set.  She didn't hear the eldest Tendo daughter approach.

"Thank you."  She accepted a cup.  Ranma just looked at both girls, a smile on his face again.  Lina sipped her tea and gave it back to Kasumi, saying thanks.  

"Kasumi, I'd like you to meet my sister Lina.  Lina, this is Kasumi, she's the eldest of the Tendo sisters and a great cook."

Kasumi smiled.  She was glad.  It's been over two years now and she saw Ranma still didn't have anyone close to him.  For him to say someone was as close to him as a sister was very encouraging.  She's been a silent witness to the martial artist's plight as he attempted to adapt to 'normal' society.  She had thought that her sister might have been able to do it, as she could be the nicest person, but apparently she failed to see past his egotistical façade also.  His many fiancées and enemies have forced the cursed boy to distance himself from everyone, even though no one else seemed to notice.  The failure of the attempted wedding was proof of that.  Now this girl comes out of nowhere and already Ranma was calling her a sister.  That he spoke of her and to her with obvious affection speaks of the emotional bond between them.

"Nice to meet you, Kasumi.  I have to try your cooking sometime."  Kasumi blinked and wondered as to what Lina was doing, as she seemed to peering at her intently.  Ranma didn't say anything as he wondered the same thing.  He was glad to see her take a liking to Kasumi, though.  The eldest Tendo sister has always been like a mother figure to him in the two years he's been in Nerima.  After a few seconds, Lina sat back in satisfaction and self-congratulation.

"You're a shrine maiden, aren't you?"  It was more a statement than question.  Ranma's eyes widened and Kasumi looked at her in confusion.

"I'm afraid I'm not religious enough for that, Lina-san."

Lina was about to correct her when Ranma asked.  "You mean she can do magic?"

Lina nodded and Kasumi was even more confused.  Seeing her confusion, Lina explained.

"What I meant was you have a potential for magic.  We call women like you shrine maidens."  Seeing Ranma about to interrupt again, she barged on in her well-practiced lecturing mode.

"The reason you aren't aware of the fact was that no one here really can do magic.  You see, magic has been sealed away for a long time.  So long that no one even believes in it anymore or can use it.  With exceptions, of course.  Only thing is, Ranma's naturally chaotic nature attracts magic to him.  You people here have probably seen more magic than the entire world has seen in thousands of years.  Now, magic is coming back.  I'm sure you can feel it already, right, Ranma?"  Ranma nodded.  He can indeed feel it now and recognize it for what it is.  It was that faint buzz in the air around him.  It was what was bugging him for a week now.

"Now, as the magic is released, you will be able to use the spells I've taught you in greater strength.  Just don't overdo it.  The world is not yet ready for it.  As for you, Kasumi, do you want to learn?"

"Oh my.  What is this magic?  It sounds so hard.  I'm afraid I'm just not that smart."

"Yes you are.  It's already in your nature.  Tell me, wouldn't you like to be a healer?"  Kasumi nodded in agreement.  She had been borrowing Dr. Tofu's medical books for a couple of years now.

"Well, you can use white magic to help people.  Cure them and heal them."  The eldest Tendo daughter paused to consider before replying.

" If it will let me do those, then yes, I'd love to learn."  Lina nodded in encouragement.

"You can do it.  Ranma will teach you until I find someone else, okay?" 

"Ranma?  I didn't know Ranma could do that."  Kasumi said.  Things were going too fast for her.

"Neither did I."  Ranma mumbled.  Lina heard him, though.

"Now, now, Ranma.  No complaining.  Just teach her some basics.  Light, levitation, recovery, dieclery, sleeping.  You know those already."  He nodded in agreement then changed the subject.

"So sis, you're staying here?"

"Oh no.  I can't stay.  I'm just visiting for a little bit."  Ranma's disappointed and surprised look cued Kasumi it was time to leave.  Picking up the tea things, she got up.

"It was very nice to meet you Miss Lina.  I hope you can visit us again sometime.  If you would both excuse me, I'll be going in now.  We can talk about my lessons tomorrow, Ranma-kun."  With that, she went back in.

Ranma was about to ask Lina what she was talking about when he saw her expression.  He tensed.  She grinned at his reaction.  

"Now, Ranma.  I've been wanting to ask you some things.  You see, I've observed what's happened to you since you came back and think we need to discuss something."  

Ranma gulped nervously.  "Uhh...what would you like to discuss, sis?"  

Lina grined even wider.  Now he was starting to get worried.  Last time they had did this kind of 'discussion'... he didn't want to think about it, it was worse than when he found out about 'that time of the month'. 

"Oh, nothing much."  She smiled at him sweetly.  NOW he's really worried.  He stepped away from her slowly, waving his arms in front defensively.

"It wasn't my fault, really!  It was Pop's fault he engaged me to all those girls!"

She took a step towards him, causing him to step back even more.  He gestured even more frantically.

"Why don't we talk about this some more privately?"

He turned around and got ready to run, knowing it won't do any good.  The only sound he was able to say was a short 'eep' before a portal opened up in front of him and swallowed him up and disappear.  Lina followed suit right after.

Author's notes:

I'm not that good with writing stories.  And I'm not sure if I can do the Slayers any justice writing them.  I'm leaning towards sticking to the Ranma cast for now, though.  I already have this story written but am unhappy with it so am revising as I post.  If you're a good writer, specially when it comes to fight scenes, and would like to help (without taking forever at it), then please feel free to contact me.

Also, if the characters seem OOC, just remember this is fanfiction.  I'm not a professional writer nor even an amateur one.  I'm probably at the wanna-be-amateur level so don't be so mean please.  I'm just doing this for fun, after all.

I no longer have a website so just keep checking where you found this story for future postings.


	3. What's going on? (still unfinished)

Balancing Act 

By Turtlehat

Disclaimer:  I don't own Ranma.  I don't own Slayers.  This story is for entertainment purposes only.

Note: I wasn't happy with the original story I've written so I'm in the process of re-writing.  I like the beginning, though so I'm keeping it with very minor changes.  I'll probably change it from midpoint on, or something.  So yes, this is a re-posting (even though this is the first time I've posted in FF.net), but it is also a re-write.

Another note:  I don't mean to write a grand grand epic adventure, battles and fantasy with lots of plot twists and character development since I don't really know how.  I just write whatever and it takes forever since I keep changing my mind on some scenes.

Chapter 2 

The morning was unusually quiet.  The Tendos all woke up in absolutely unexpected and unsettling quiet.  There were no Saotomes sparring, no insults yelled, swearing and angry words bandied about.  Kasumi got up regularly and made breakfast.  Nabiki got to get ready for school with no incident to watch and wait for while waiting to use the bathroom.  By the time she made her way downstairs for breakfast, her curiosity was peaked.  Surprisingly, there was no one at the table.  Kasumi walked out of the kitchen and saw her.

"Nabiki, would you please go upstairs and wake up Akane?  I don't think she's up yet.  She'll be late for school if she doesn't get up soon."  With that, she walked back into the kitchen, humming happily under her breath.  

Nabiki's eyebrows shot up in surprise.  Then deciding something must've happened, her curiosity prodded her to her younger sister's door and knocked.

"Go away!"  came a muffled reply.

"Kasumi said to get ready for school, Akane!  And where's Ranma?  You guys are usually at each other's throats by now."  Then a thought struck her.  Smirking, she lowered her voice and asked through the door.  "He's not in there, is he?  You guys aren't doing something the ecchi, right?"

Her imaginative thoughts ran through all the possible scenarios, all of them NC-17 rated.  She was so into it that she yelped in surprise when the door suddenly was yanked open and she was faced with a blazingly angry, red-aura'd, puffy-eyed Akane.  Instinctively backing up a couple of steps and wincing, she braced herself for the expected explosion.  She wasn't disappointed.

"WHY WOULD I WANT TO BE WITH THAT TWO-TIMING, PERVERTED, HALF-GIRL CASSANOVA?!  HE CAN GO UP AND JUST DIE FOR ALL I CARE!  EVEN BETTER, HE'D DO US ALL A FAVOR IF HE DID JUST DIE!  JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!"  

SLAM!

Nabiki blinked owlishly at the door.  You could almost see the question marks on her head.  

"What's going on?  Akane?"  she tapped at the door, only to hear a frustrated scream behind the door.  Backing up nervously as she didn't really want to deal with a violent Akane, she went to the Saotome's room and peeked in.  There was no one there.  Now really confused, she went back downstairs.

"Kasumi, what's going on? What's with Akane?  She won't come down and she told me flat out to leave her alone."

"Oh dear.  I suppose it would be best for her to stay home today.  It will give her time to calm down.  You go ahead, Nabiki."

"What's going on around here?  Where's Ranma?  And Mr. Saotome?  And where's Father?"

"Father and Mr. Saotome left early this morning with Grandfather Happosai.  They said they'd be back tomorrow."

"What about Ranma?  Where is he?"

"I believe he's spending some time with his sister today."  Nabiki's jaw dropped in surprise at Kasumi's casual revelation.

"SISTER?  What sister?  He's an only child!" she almost yelled.  Kasumi looked up from her cooking and frowned in disapproval, cutting off her upcoming frustrated yell.

"I don't understand it fully, myself, but she came last night, don't you remember?"

Nabiki's brows furrowed in though.  *A girl who calls herself Saotome's sister came here last night?* Then she remembered her dream.  *Whoa!  That wasn't a dream, was it?  How did she do that?*  "That girl really was here last night, wasn't she?"  Kasumi nodded in reply.  "And she was actually Ranma's sister?  Not a new fiancée or rival or something?"  Kasumi nodded smilingly.

"Wow.  So Saotome really has a sister, does he?  I wonder if Mrs. Saotome knows her."  Absently, the middle Tendo daughter ate her breakfast, grabbed her lunch and left for school, her mind whirling on how she can use the information.

***

A few minutes after Nabiki left, Akane went downstairs in search of food.  She had woken up puffy eyed and angry.  Remembering the events of last night brought a pain in her heart.  Ranma, _her_ Ranma, actually defended some other floozy from her.  She had spent most of the night last night crying, alternately blaming Ranma and despairing over losing him.  She had only managed a couple hours at best of sleep.  Then Nabiki had the gall to insinuate that they were actually sleeping together!  After screaming out in frustration, she realized that she couldn't afford to skip school.  Nabiki probably is selling the gossip by now.  Grumbling about perverted idiot fiancées and mercenary sisters, she got up and got dressed.  She will show them!  She doesn't need that perverted freak!  

When she got downstairs, she was surprised to find no one at the table.  Kasumi walked out of the kitchen holding a tray of food.

"Oh Akane!  I thought you'd still be in your room.  I was just about to bring you breakfast.  Would you like to have breakfast down here?"  At the answering nod, she proceeded to place the food in front of the red-eyed, sullen girl.  Concerned, she asked.

"What's wrong, Akane?"

The kind tone and knowing Kasumi's non-judgmental nature broke down the younger girl's dam on her emotions.  With a cry, she grabbed onto her sister's waist and cried, momentarily forgetting about what the other kids might be saying right now in school.  With tears in her eyes, again, she tremulously asked  "Kasumi, I just lost him, didn't I?  He wants to be with that…that…other girl!"  Kasumi's eyes widened in understanding and sighed at her youngest sister's habit of assuming the worst that always brought so much trouble.  Hugging the younger girl and patting her back, she asked.

"Akane, are you talking about the girl last night?" Akane nodded in her oldest sister's arms, taking in the comfort rarely given or asked for nowadays.

"Oh Akane.  You don't have to worry about her.  You see, that girl is Ranma's sister."  She didn't say that she suspects her youngest sister really did just lose Ranma, though.  She will have to learn that on her own.

"WHAT?!  But Ranma's an only child!  How can he have a sister?"  All thoughts aside, forgetting all about how miserable, jealous and angry she was feeling, Kasumi's revelation stopped Akane cold.  Kasumi sighed in disappointment.

"Akane, you must stop assuming things before taking action…"  Anything else she would have said was lost as the object of much mystery walked in.

"Hey, Kasumi!"  Ranma greeted the oldest Tendo sister and rather hesitantly, Akane as well.  He could only hope against hope that Lina had put that mind-spell thingy on her as well last night.  "Yo, Akane.  You okay?"  His easy and casual comments sparked the youngest Tendo's frustration.  He had a sister all this time and not telling them and seeing her behind her back and letting her believe he's seeing another woman and … and …  Ooooohhhh!  Akane's mind whirled from relief to joy to anger all within a second.  And since he didn't really choose another woman over her, she felt her world coming back down to what was normal and reacted in the only way she knew how…

Kasumi sighed in even more disappointment as Akane handled the situation by exploding in anger at her fiancée.

"Where have you been, you baka?  And why didn't you tell me you have a sister?"  

The pigtailed martial artist stared at her in panic and started stammering out excuses.  He may have regained some maturity and self-control.  But two years of the same thing tends to stick to a person so instead of maturely recognizing the worry and other feelings hidden in her statement, he just gave the automatic response.

 "Well you didn't give me a chance to explain!  You just went ahead and was gonna hit her!  She would've killed you, you uncute tomboy!"  The insult and insinuation that she can't take care of herself against another of his fiancées proved too much.  Added to the emotional load she was working up, Akane exploded.  Out came the hammer and…

"Ranma no baka!" 

And so Ranma takes another trip via Mallet Air, much to Kasumi's hidden exasperation.

***

Meanwhile, at a not so nearby city…

"Come on, you useless idiots!  You better run faster than that!"  the diminutive master of Anything-Goes goaded his two students.  Much to their dismay, the master had taken it into his head that they needed some special training.  Of course, the fact that there was a lingerie show at the time at this city was a nice bonus.  Not the main reason, of course, thought the perverted master as he ran with a huge sack of women's lingerie down the street.  Behind him, his two students ran with large sacks of their own, bemoaning their fate and wondering why it wasn't Ranma that was forced to do this.  All three ran for their lives as a mob of women chased them with all sorts of weapons.

***

A deep sigh of depression escaped from Ryoga's mouth.  He's lost again.  He'd been trekking trough the deepest, wildest jungles in the world just this week.  He'd been trying to trace his way back to the Tendo's but can't seem to do it.  His clothes needed a good patchwork job and his supplies need to be re-stocked.  He wondered if Akane even missed him.  Then again, since she'd only miss his alter-ego 'P-chan', was it even worth it?  Then he thought of her gentle smile, her kind expression and all doubts fade away.  He couldn't help but start to daydream … that he didn't see or sense the unexpected body that landed right on top of him.

WHAM!

"Ggghhhh…."  Two groans of pain emerged from tangled limbs and canvas.  A few moments later, one figure twitched and regained consciousness.  Ranma pulled himself up to a sitting position and rubbed his head and the growing lump in it.  His joints and muscles protested as he tried to find out where he is.  Noticing the familiar backpack, he looked around for the owner.

"grrr…Would you get off me?!"  The annoyed and muffled voice got the human projectile's attention.  Ranma jumped as the ground beneath him moved and pushed.  Startled, he jumped up and saw a disgruntled Ryoga under him lying facedown.  Brushing the dust off his clothes, he peered at the lost boy with a smirk in his voice.

"Yo.  Ryoga.  What'cha doin'?  Havin' a dirt sandwich?" he grinned at his own joke.  Ryoga just glared at him as he sat up as well.

"Shut up, Saotome!  How dare you use me for a landing pad!"  He was about to attack his all-too-familiar rival before he remembered to ask the most obvious (to him) question.

"What are you doing here in Brazil?" Ranma just blinked at him in confusion before smacking his forehead with a one palm.  Shaking his head and groaning in exasperation, he drawled out.  "Ryoga, you're in Kuno's backyard.  Didn't you know that?"  Ryoga blinked in surprise, totally missing the sarcasm, then recognition sunk in.

"Oh.  That would explain the collar on that crocodile.  And the black roses."  As if on cue, they both froze as they heard Kodachi's laughter coming closer.  With no words needed, Ranma helped Ryoga pack and in a couple of seconds, leaped away and out of the Kuno grounds, Ranma leading the lost boy through the maze.  Behind them, they could hear Kodachi's laughter fading away.  Both let out breaths they didn't know they were holding.

"Man, that was close."  Ryoga nodded in agreement before remembering just _how_ Ranma had 'found' him.  As if on cue, his depression aura burst out and he yelled out in indignation.  Ranma sighed at the inevitability of it.  Then an idea hit him.  Grinning evilly, he led the lost boy out of the city.

"Ranma…  How dare you land on me!" And off they went.  As they were still in Nerima and came from Nerima, people hardly looked as they sped by.

"Don't you dare run away, you coward!"  This normally gets Ranma to fight but with a new perspective on things, thanks to remembering some things, Ranma managed to ignore the insult and kept leading the lost boy.  His expression _did_ darken, though.  Being careful not to lose Ryoga, they made their way to the nice pocket forest he had found after his last training trip.  Once there, Ranma turned around and started retaliating.  

It was a fairly typical Ranma-Ryoga fight.  They started with hits and blocks, speeding up constantly, then adding special moves ending in a contest of ki-blasts ending in a mutual knockout.  By the time they were done, they had managed to clear a sizable clearing.

*** 

Ranma woke to the sensation of a wet cloth scrubbing his face rather thoroughly.  While such a thing would normally be a comforting thing to wake up after being knocked unconscious, the fact that his face was actually starting to turn red from the rather _hard_ scrubbing ruined the experience.  Protesting around the cloth and pushing it away, he struggled to a sitting position, only to find a redhead frowning at him. 

"Ranma-chan, I know I said to fix things.  But I didn't know you'd try to 'fix' things by killing the guy."  Lina said sarcastically.  At the 'chan', he looked down.  Sure enough.  He's a girl again.  After two years of hating his girl-side, it's taking him a while to get used to the idea of being a girl again.

"Hi sis.  Don't worry.  Ryoga's built like a tank, a little fight like that won't hurt him long."  As if agreeing, he heard a groan and spotted Ryoga lying next to him.  Getting up, the lost boy's eyes almost popped out of his head as he saw two onna-Ranmas.  He gaped.

"R-r-ranma?"

Immediately, both 'Ranmas' started laughing.  The Lost Boy's anger sparked again, thinking he was being made fun of, but before he could burst out in anger, one of the 'Ranmas' pointed at him casually mid-laugh and…

BOOOMMM!!!

Anger forgotten, a burnt and smoking Ryoga could only resume gaping at the two 'Ranmas'.  Onna-Ranma wiped her eyes from laughing so much and tried to compose herself before approaching the scorched lost boy.  Shaking her head, she whispered to the Lost Boy as she helped him up "Just a tip, don't even _think_ of calling her a boy."

"Ryoga, I'd like you to meet my sister, Lina.  Sis, this here's my friend, Ryoga."  

"You mean she's not…"  Ryoga looked back and forth between the two redheads, finally seeing the differences.  For one thing, Ranma's hair was a lot more red while Lina's was more orange-red.  Also, Lina has red eyes while Ranma's is blue.  Added to that was that the cursed boy's female form is bustier.  Guessing at what was going through Ryoga's head, Ranma spoke up before Ryoga could say anything else that would result in more than a scorching.

"No, she's not an evil twin.  She didn't come from no cursed mirror.  Not from Happosai's incense or nothin'.  She's real and she's my sister."  Ranma finished for him.

"So you're the one who turns into a pig, huh?" Lina greeted him.

Ryoga blanched at the casual question.  Glaring angrily at Ranma, he shouted "Ranma!  How dare you tell her about my curse!" 

"'Cause she might be able to cure ya, P-CHAN!" Ranma yelled back.  Ryoga growled at being called P-chan and was about to attack Ranma before what was said sunk in.  

"C-c-c-c-cure?  You mean, she might be able to cure me?"

Ranma nodded cutely in agreement.  Forgetting about the 'P-chan' bit, Ryoga turned hopeful eyes to the other redhead present.

"Can you cure me?  Really?"

Lina had watched the exchange, amazed at the raw emotions that the two seemed to radiate so freely.  The depression in Ryoga and the confidence from Ranma was amazing to watch.  And when they both use those same emotions to manipulate their aura to create some sort of shield, she's very impressed.  Such a creative way of using spiritual energy!  Ranma had gotten a lot more emotional than the last time she'd seen him - not that that is a good thing, however.  Too much emotion can color a person's judgment after all.  To her relief, though, Ranma seemed to be making an effort to control and lower his.  Maybe he had realized the weakness of such a technique as well.  She was so intent in watching and analyzing their spiritual auras that she didn't pay very much attention to their conversation.  When the depression in Ryoga's aura suddenly winked out, she startled.  Ryoga had to repeat his question a second time before she answered.

"Maybe.  I'm not sure.  I'll have to study it for a while.  How much is it worth to ya?"

"Huh?"

Lina grinned as Ryoga was suddenly reminded of Nabiki.  Except that Nabiki can't actually toss a ball of fire at him.  Onna-Ranma groaned silently to himself but kept quiet.  He wants to see this!

"Well, how much are you willing to pay me for my 'service'?"  Lina asked again.

"I…I don't have any money on me…"  Ryoga floundered as he started rummaging around his pockets and backpack for anything that could be of value.  A few minutes of this, he gave up and sadly gave the redhead a confused look.  "I guess, if you tell me what you'd like, I'll get if for you…"  Ranma groaned in the background.  Ryoga doesn't know what he's getting into!  Lina, in the meantime, just grinned even more at the blank check she was being offered.  With an evil glint in her eyes, she pretended to think about it for a moment before answering.

"hmmm… Something like this will be a bit hard to do…but since you're Ranma-chan's friend and all…how about…a dozen all-you-can-eat dinners?"

"It's a deal!"  Ryoga replied immediately, spirits lifting.  After all, she is even smaller than most Japanese girls.  And they don't eat that much…  It'll be a cinch!  

Ryoga's sudden burst of confidence was shattered at the sudden quiet in the entire clearing.  Even the birds and other small creatures seemed to freeze.  Turning around, he saw onna-Ranma staring at him in undisguised horror, as if he'd just done the unbelievable.  Finally realizing he might have, just might have, just made a mistake, he flinched and in great dread, turned back around to see Lina was giving him a look that reminded him of a cat who just got the canary _and_ the canary's cousins _and_ the cousins' distant relatives.

Later…

"C'mon, Ranma!  You can do better than that!"

Ranma sweated while Lina cheered on or critiqued at the sidelines.  He was standing very still enclosed in an invisible bubble.  While normally this wouldn't be much of an effort, the swarm of tiny balls of fire constantly slamming and threatening to bust his shield is making it difficult, as he had to pump more power into the shield.  Also the fact that they slowly but surely kept getting stronger wasn't helping any, either.  They've been at it for a couple of hours now and his magical reserves were starting to strain.  He could have gone longer, too, if only for one little thing Lina decided to casually add…

"Aaaahhhhhhh!!" he yelped as a cat, out of the blue, sauntered by.  Immediately, his shield failed and the swarm…let's just say he won't be waking up anytime soon normally.  As it is, Lina dismissed the elementals and the illusion of the cat and gave a huge sigh.  Walking over the scorched and slightly cooked Ranma, she tsk'd and commented "Ranma.  Ranma.  Ranma.  You have got to get you over this fear of yours somehow.  Hmm."  She mentally sighed as she absently performed a recovery spell on the unconscious boy. 

"Wha..what happened?" Ranma groggily asked, picking himself off the ground and noticing the state of his clothing.  Or what's left of it, at least.  

"You saw a cat."  Ranm flinched at the word and shuddered.  "You know, you really have got to work on that.  You can't have that weakness in an actual battle.  Even though your cat-persona is powerful, it's a weakness your enemies will take advantage of…"

"Yeah.  Yeah.  Yeah.  I know."  Ranma interrupted, hearing this speech before.  "I know.  Just me a little more time, 'kay?  I'll get it again."  

"Okay.  Get started.  We're not doing anything until you're done."  Her tone brooked no argument and instead of answering, he sat down on the ground and began.  

Lina watched as her 'little brother' started his meditations.  It had taken the cursed boy a long time to master the dreaded 'cat-fist'.  When she had first met him, he used to be fearful of even images of cats, reverting to a feral state with spirit-claws when exposed to any feline at a prolonged duration.  While the technique itself was powerful, increasing his speed and granting him cat-like senses and deadly claws, it had a huge disadvantage in a fight.  Basically, it's too much of a cat.  Ranma would lose his mind, losing any tactical advantage and would get distracted over the smallest things.  Why, all the opponent need is something for the cat-boy to play with or eat and he'd be out of the fight!  She'd had to send for professional help to help him control his fear and so have conscious control over the technique.  At the end of the (very long)  'therapy', he had mastered it and lost his fear of cats, thus letting him keep his sanity, but it had a side effect of making him aggressive and subconsciously cat-like when exposed to cats – the longer the exposure, the more cat-like and aggressive he becomes, though not to the point where he'd lose his sanity.  Unfortunately, when he was sent back and his memories sealed, everything he'd learned had been sealed as well, including the control over the cat-fist.  Now that he remembers and knowing his learning curve, it shouldn't take too long before he masters it again.  Oh well.  It was nothing for her to worry about for now.  In the meantime, there's this new meal-ticket that she'd gotten.  She looked around for the lost boy and was mystified.  He was supposed to fetch water from the stream just meters behind her.  Where is he?  He can't possibly get lost from here to there, can he?

***

In a sprawling metropolis somewhere, a figure walked down the sidewalk, a wooden bucket in hand.  He didn't remember there being lots of buildings near that stream.  Finally realizing he's no longer in the forest, the figure burst in a green fire, incinerating the wooden bucket he was holding and yelled "RANMA!  THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"

***

"I see you've remembered your lessons."   Ranma puffed up in pride at the compliment.  It had only taken a couple of hours to get the cat-fist technique back in control.  He felt good!  No more worries about cats!

"No problem!"

"Since you're now back in control, and we seemed to have lost your friend…I guess you weren't kidding when you said he gets lost easy…you ready to get back to practicing magic? "  His larger smile was all the answer she needed.  He nodded in eagerness, looking like a boy who was just offered a treat.

"You bet!  I haven't tried anything yet."  He almost bounced in excitement like a little kid.  It has been so long since he's felt this good.  Their 'talk' last night had re-established the rapport between them and he now has someone he trusted completely and know accepts him no matter what.  It was as if a great weight had been lifted.  

"Good!  But first…" she paused for effect.  He looked at her expectantly.  "Let's get some lunch!"  

THUD.

Ranma got up from his face-fault and glared at the grinning Lina.  "I'd forgotten you had a bigger appetite than me.  Now since I don't have any money, where can we find some food…well, we can try the Tendo's?" he finished uncertainly.

*** 

As it turned out, everyone had left the Tendo home except for Kasumi.  After cleaning out the refrigerator and pantry of anything edible, they helped with the cleanup and dragged a protesting Kasumi back to the training grounds with them.

"But I have to go get more groceries for tonight's dinner!"  the eldest Tendo was saying.  Lina glared at her.

"No, you don't.  From now on, have one of your sisters do it.  Just make a list and be sure they have it done before you get back.  Or better yet, have it delivered!"

"But…"  Kasumi tried to protest.  Unfortunately, Lina wasn't about to be over-ridden.  Kasumi reminded her of a certain shrine maiden she's met back in her youth.  But unlike that shrine maiden, there was a core to Kasumi that was very promising.  She could sense that the eldest Tendo daughter wasn't exactly as oblivious to what's going on around her as the others believed and as Ranma had told her.  Finding out about Kasumi's history only confirmed what her impression gave her.  Kasumi is capable of much more than she seemed.  Why, just the control she has on her darker emotions was exceptional!  Some might say inhibited, but Lina knew that it could also mean better control, which is necessary when it comes to magic.  And once she had accepted training the night before, Lina didn't think twice about ordering her to change her life around.

"No 'buts'.  You're going to learn with Ranma here and that's final.  If anyone asks, just tell them you're taking a class or something."  Lina turned away, the matter settled and already dismissed from her mind.  Ranma, finally realizing the wavering indecision in the eldest Tendo daughter, tried to reassure her.

"You know she's right, Kasumi.  You gotta have a life outside the house.  Besides, the others can take care of themselves, they're not kids anymore.  Just think – if you learn magic, you can heal peolple and stuff.  Besides, we can bring you back before dinner."  He concluded jokingly.  Kasumi stood, undecided.  She was thinking of her self-imposed responsibilities, namely her responsibilities to her family.  Then she remembered her mother, how her mother's death had affected them all.  If there were any way to help anyone else avoid what happened to them, it would be worth it.  Besides, as Ranma said, her sisters are grown up already, about to leave the nest.  Maybe it was time she thought of her own future as well.  And they did say she'd be home before dinner…maybe, just maybe it was time to think of her own future as well?…maybe they're right…and it would be so nice to be able to help people…and wouldn't it be funny to see her sisters' expressions when they find out…

Lina and Ranma watched her as she went from a worried housewife to a resolved and determined young woman with an unfamiliar mischievous look in her eyes.  For a brief moment there, Ranma could've swore Kasumi reminded her of Nabiki, but since it vanished quickly, he dismissed it as a figment of his imagination.  But it was strange to see so many expressions in a face so fast.  An aspect of Kasumi's was emerging which Ranma has never seen before.  His sister had mentioned it, but he didn't believe it then.  Now it was a different story.  It's very fascinating to watch her transform before his eyes.  It was as if the oblivious gentle Kasumi he has known for the last two years was a mask and now for the first time, he is seeing a glimpse of the woman beneath.  A woman he suspected no one had ever been allowed to see.

"Okay.  I'll do it."  The brilliant smile given her by the two 'siblings' was all the encouragement she needed.

***

BANG!  STOMP  STOMP  STOMP  STOMP  STOMP

"RANMA!  WHERE IS THAT BAKA PERVERT?!"  Following her voice, Akane came stomping in the house, red aura blazing almost a foot from her body.  She had looked for her missing fiancée at school and got worried when he failed to show up.  She had also gotten in trouble with Miss Hinako when she failed to pay attention in class, resulting in her getting drained.  Then his other fiancées showed up and demanded to know where he was.  By the end of the day and he still didn't show up, she assumed the worst and thought he was out playing around with some new floozies…

Behind her, Nabiki walked into the house, keeping an eye out for the cursed martial artist.  She was also furious.  Ranma's absence from school today had cost her what would otherwise have been a hefty profit.   

The youngest Tendo daughter slammed her way around the house, checking every room, angry aura blazing brighter and brighter at each unsuccessful search.  She ended up looking into the dojo and finding it empty as well, screamed out her frustration.

"AAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHH!  THAT PERVERT!"

Akane's emotions and anger snapped.  Nabiki, stepping back nervously and expecting her to blow up like one of Ryoga's attacks, was surprised when unexpectedly, the youngest Tendo burst into tears, aura winking out and ran to her room.

"Well…That was unexpected…"  Nabiki muttered to herself as she tried to understand just what had happened…

***

***

It was a strange month for Nerima and it's residents are holding their breath.  There was a noticeable drop in property damage and noise level, which unsettled everyone who are now waiting for the disaster to strike.  This was, of course, due to the fact that the main focus of these problems, namely Ranma, was practically absent.  He would show up late at night after dinner half-dead, go to sleep then leave before anyone gets up.  All attempts to talk to him were promptly either ignored or would get the same frustrating answer "That is a secret."  Even Akane's malleting, threat of malleting, shouting, and even cold dunkings didn't get an answer out of him, or even wake him up.  It was only Kasumi who, for some reason, prevented them from malleting, literally drowning or burning the pigtailed boy to get him to wake up.  They even went as far as asking Cologne for help, but she was also held back from doing anything by the eldest Tendo daughter who reassured everyone that 'Ranma must be doing some new kind of training and is just tired.'  No one had the heart to contest her so they were stuck waiting until hopefully soon, Ranma was done with whatever it was he's doing.  Nabiki was tearing her hair out in frustration in not being able to track where he goes every day.  It was as if he just vanishes and appears in his room, asleep.  And knowing about the Saotome Forbidden Techniques, he could be doing just that.  His fiancées and rivals also noticed but couldn't do anything about it.  Much to their frustration, every time they tried to follow, they would lose him.  They all assumed he was either learning a new technique or meeting a girlfriend.

Another couple of changes, one that went unnoticed by all but one, was Kasumi and the Tendo's food throughput.  No one really noticed or paid attention, but Kasumi started disappearing in the afternoons.  When Nabiki noticed and had asked, Kasumi told her that she was taking a class.  As for the food, everyday, a vast amount of food was delivered to the Tendo's, which would amazingly be gone by the end of the day.  Kasumi, knowing Nabiki would be concerned at the cost, reassured her that someone was paying Kasumi to prepare the meals in exchange for the cost of the classes, the ingredients to be provided.  She just had to prepare it.  Surprised but satisfied with the answer, an encouraging Nabiki had deemed the matter closed, assuming that Kasumi was taking some medical classes.  And since it is Kasumi, she didn't pursue the matter, especially since trying to find the elusive martial artist occupied most of her time.  Her profit margin has drastically plummeted with her source of income missing so she just had to find him.  Unfortunately for her, she didn't know that Lina had given Kasumi a large quantity of precious gems in payment for the food.  So far, Kasumi has only used one of Lina's smaller rubies (small for Lina's standards, that is) for a month's supply of food (for Lina and Ranma, it's only a month's supply.)

Unknown to the Nerima gang, Ranma wasn't really gone the entire day and Kasumi wasn't exactly taking medical classes.  Kasumi was learning magic and was learning very well indeed.  She was a fast learner and was able to cast Recovery and other basic spells in no time at all.  

She was at first very reluctant to take part in 'sparring' or learn any offensive spells, wanting to just learn the 'healing' spells.  That was when Ranma and Kasumi found that Lina's presence was more than just a visit.

"WHAT?"

"You heard me the first time, Ranma."  Lina glared at the cursed boy.

"But…but…but…" he tried to protest.

"But nothing.  I might as well explain it to you as well, Kasumi, so listen up, both of you."  Lina settled into her lecture mode.

"As you know, in the beginning, the Mother of All created two powerful beings in this world.  One was Ceipheed and the other was Shabranigdo."  Actually, Kasumi didn't know this, but was hesitant to speak up.

"From Ceipheed came the dragon race and from Shabranigdo came the monster race.  Being of two opposite natures, the two Lords and the races fought for supremacy.  For countless years, they fought.  In the end, Ceipheed and Shabranigdo both fell, neither winning.  Unfortunately, the subordinate lords kept the war going.  The monster race sought destruction and chaos while the dragons sought survival and order.  It got to the point that they came to a stalemate and that was when humans flourished.  The dragons basically ignored us, as long as we exist, they didn't care.  The demons, of course, found us to be a prime source of amusement and nourishment.  But that's beside the point, of course.  The point is that there was a stalemate between the two races and we humans were wildcards that would sometimes come into play in their cold war.

"A couple hundred millennia ago, something unexpected happened.  When Ranma here appeared unexpectedly, he got some monsters and dragons nervous.  If the Mother of All is now choosing humans to bestow power on, then humans are now a threat and can potentially dominate the world.  We could easily tip the balance in their 'cold' war.  They couldn't allow it.  They first attacked our home, their primary targets were Ranma and myself.  Well, to make a long story short, Ranma got tagged before I realized what was going on.  Some of us escaped while drawing their attacks away from home and when we were in the clear, I tried a new spell I was working on.  It seemed to work, sort of, and then while they were still out of it, we sent Ranma back where he belonged to keep him safe.  After that, the demon race seemed to change their mind about us being threats.  And soon after, magic got all sealed up and now it's coming back.  So now you guys need to learn how to wield magic so you can use it to protect people when the demon race comes back which is sometime soon."  Lina finished lightly as Ranma and Kasumi stared at her.  After being silently stared at for a good five minutes, she asked innocently.  "What?"

THUD.

Both Ranma and Kasumi fell face-first on the ground, twitching.  Picking themselves off the ground groaning, Ranma put himself together long enough to ask in exasperation.  

"Sis!  What kind of explanation is that?!"  

"Yes, Lina-chan.  I think you skipped some important details there."

"Yeah!  Like how did the magic get 'all sealed up' and how just when did the demon race go away?  What happened to all the other races and magical creatures?"  Lina huffed, trying to look insulted at the lack of trust.  Seeing they didn't buy it, she protested.

"Hey!  It's got nothing to do with me.  I'm still asleep, you know!"  She retorted defensively.  Ranma and Kasumi looked at her in confusion.  Lina flushed in embarrassment, realizing she just gave something away.

"Okay!  Okay!  I admit it!  It was after the monster attack when you were sent back.  To counter the threat, I tried a variation of a spell of mine.  Unfortunately, I didn't know the effect it will have on the caster and surroundings.  It actually sealed up anything magical in nature, including the caster, which happened to be me at the time, including monsters and dragons.   It also started draining all the magic in the area.  It was a quite a spell, if I do say so myself.   The thing is, since it did seal up those annoying monsters and useless dragons, everyone decided it was better to just leave everyone all sealed up as long as the spell lasted.  They concluded that I was a fairly small price to pay for a peaceful life without more demon threats or other dangerous creatures.  It didn't take long after that before everyone forgot about everything altogether and magic became rare and feared.  Unfortunately, they forgot that a spell is just a spell.  It will always end at some point.  The spell has been weakening for the last few millennia.  It's now at the point where humans can now start using magic again.  Of course this means that soon, the demons and gods will wake up.  The problem is that the human race is just not ready for them.  It'll be a slaughter if nothing is done.  

"And that brings us to why Kasumi needs to learn offense."  Lina's sudden turn on the topic kept the other two off-guard such that they didn't notice two of her fingers crossed behind her back.

"I'll be honest here.  It's not a very pretty future ahead.  I need strong people, people who are capable of taking care of themselves and others.  Ranma is already training and I need you, Kasumi, to help as well.  I need you to be more than a healer, I need you to guard Ranma's back in a fight and be a teacher to others when the time comes.  We may have time, but not so long that we can afford to have deadweights.  So, are you going to fight?"

"Oh, my.  If it's that important, shouldn't we get the others trained as well?  Don't you think the more people we have, the better?  And why me?"

"Sure.  But I can't teach everyone at once.  That's where you two come in.  I teach you two.  Then you guys teach a few others.  Those others teach a few others and so on.  Get it?  We want quality sorcerers here and the best way to get that is one-on-one.  So no telling anyone yet, okay?  And to answer your question on why you, it's because I like you more than the others.  So, you in or not?"

Kasumi froze at the question.  Put like that, there's no way she can refuse.  Bracing herself, she nodded in agreement.   She had a hard time believing it all.  But since they both seemed to know what they were talking about, and the magic she's starting to learn as proof, she had to take their word it was all true.  Besides, they seem trustworthy to her even though she felt that Lina's still hiding things.

Ranma also nodded in agreement and comprehension.  It wasn't so surprising to him that the family was directly involved in the incident.  And even though Lina was still keeping other details to herself, at least they got Kasumi to agree.  He promised to get answers out of his sister later, though.

***

Ranma and Kasumi awkwardly stood facing each other across the clearing, both obviously very _very_ uncomfortable and hesitant.  Every so often, one would look like they're going to attack or cast a spell or something, only to stop or fizzle out at mid-attempt.  Ranma's reluctance to actually hit or cast a spell at Kasumi in addition to Kasumi's reluctance to take any offensive action wasn't helping any.  Even though he didn't feel as uncomfortable fighting girls, it was the fact that is was _Kasumi_ that Ranma had problems with.  It was an almost laughable situation and ridiculous and they both would much rather just give up and practice separately except for a growing sense of anger at the edge of the clearing where a redhead glared at them both.  At each half-hearted attempt from either side, the feeling of anger from her corner would increase.  Finally, Lina couldn't stand it anymore.

"FIREBALL!" she yelled out.  Immediately feeling better, she developed a huge sweatdrop next to her head at the two twitching piles of bodies where her two 'students' used to be.  

"Oh well.  I guess they need more incentive."  

***

A lot more discussion later (fireballs, debates, fireballs, and other threats to their health), Kasumi and Ranma finally agreed to 'spar' with/on each other.  It amazed Ranma that Kasumi's unconscious aura that made people want to not hurt her didn't seem to affect his sister any.  Kasumi, meantime, realized that she wasn't going to be able to get out of this and that the redheaded sorceress is determined to have her learn no matter what.  Now she knows how Ranma must have felt every time he got hit with Ryoga's shishi hokodans.  In the end, Lina had to promise Kasumi that any damage she might actually do to Ranma will be healed and not cause permanent damage while Ranma needed more violent persuasion.  The lessons slowly progressed well after that.   Lina made Kasumi practice with/on Ranma and vice versa.  To help her have more time for the lessons, Lina had Ranma make all the meals and do all the chores except dinner for the Tendos.  They may not know it, but Nabiki, Akane, Soun and Genma ate only Kasumi's food at dinner while Ranma prepared and served everything else.  A nice application of illusion spells and mental 'suggestions' made sure they saw 'Kasumi' preparing and serving meals while the real Kasumi was out training with her new self-appointed sensei.  In addition, she received a spell book to learn from for whenever she had time to study.

 It wasn't long before Kasumi was sparring regularly with Ranma.  Apparently, she hasn't forgotten all the lessons in the martial arts she took when she was younger.  They also found that she had a sharp mind and a high learning curve, much like Ranma.  Combined with a high affinity for magic, she became a force to be reckoned with, though she still wouldn't initiate any combat at all.  Every battle was fought strategically, as she uses just enough force and magic to counter anything thrown at her.  For Ranma, it was a challenge to keep her on the offensive.

It was after the end of the month when their routine changed.

***

Par Fum sighed in absolute boredom.  Beside her, Lu Pa and her sister Lu Bo were chatting like girlish teens instead of the warriors they were supposed to be.  She knew she should stop them as gossiping while at patrol was not befitting of Amazon warriors, but then again, as nothing ever happens in a routine patrol, she let it go for once.  It wasn't even supposed to be her shift, but her sister had twisted her ankle the day before and since no one else wanted to volunteer…  She sighed again. 

The chatter of the girls and her boredom dulled her senses so none of the Amazons were prepared when suddenly, something shot out of the bushes next to them and grabbed the two chatting warriors.  Before the any of them knew it, they were overwhelmed as at least a half dozen creatures attacked.  Looking like a mutated cross between a sloth and a hedgehog with razor sharp quills and with the ferocity of an enraged grizzly, the creatures made short work with the unfortunate Lu Pa and Lu Bo.  Par Fum herself would have been quickly overwhelmed as well; it was only pure luck that she had been sitting at a tree branch twenty feet in the air.  Hoping to at least save one girl, she had quickly joined the fray, only to find out her wooden Bo couldn't even get past the quills that covered the creatures.  Her initial attack only earned her a quill through an upper arm, rendering it useless, and a half dozen creatures with murder in their eyes looking at her direction.  Quickly calculating the odds and the unmoving pieces of gore that used to be the other Amazon warriors, the surviving patrol did the one thing she never in her life imagine she'd do.  She turned tail and ran like the hounds of hell were on her trail.  Her only consolation was that in her case, it was true.

***

At the Cat-Café.

Cologne watched Shampoo as she finished cleaning up the kitchen.  The girl had become subdued lately, almost depressed.  While she knew the cause to be the strange behavior of her Son-In-Law, she also knew there was nothing any of them can do.  Every one of them had tried.  Even Cologne herself had tried, to find out what the pigtailed boy was up to.  But no thanks to the Forbidden Techniques, the cursed boy had eluded them all.  After a month of attempting to follow him, they had all given up and just hoped he would be finished with whatever he was doing soon.  It has been a little over six weeks since he'd started.  Given his learning curve, surely he'd be done soon.

"HELLO!  CAN I HAVE SOME SERVICE HERE?" someone called out.  Seeing no response from her depressed great-granddaughter, Cologne made a mental note to do something about her and hopped out of the kitchen to tell their customer they were closed.  After all, it was very unbefitting an Amazon warrior to be pining over a male.

"I'm sorry but we are no longer op…"  Cologne stopped as she took a good look at the 'customer.'  If she hadn't been paying attention, she'd have easily dismissed her as just another teenager.  But it was her aura that made her pause.  The girl had showed none.  Knowing about the Saotome Hidden Thief technique or the Umisen ken(sp?), Cologne was curious.  The girl must be very good to be hiding her aura that well, but she doesn't have the look of a martial artist.  Maybe she's related to that Ryu boy that had been after Ranma for the Forbidden Techniques that one time.

"Six bowls of your special, please." The redhead smiled at the elder, seemingly oblivious to the elder's inspection.  

"It'll just be a moment."  Changing her mind as she got curios enough about the new girl, Cologne hopped back into the kitchen and within a minute, had the six bowls tossed out of the kitchen, not bothering to watch to know that it landed perfectly, not spilling a single drop.  Bopping the depressed Shampoo to get her attention and signaling her to follow, she hopped back out to 'talk' with their guest who, much to her surprise, ate like her unwilling Son-In-Law.

"That's quite an appetite you've got there.  I didn't think anyone but Son-in-law and his father could eat like that."

The girl finished, smiled at the 'compliment' and patted her stomach contentedly.  

"This is good!"  Cologne smiled at the compliment.

"So what's your name, young lady?  I don't think I've seen you around here before."  

"Lina.  My name's Lina.  And I'm visiting my little brother here.  Maybe you know him!"  Lina replied with a girlish smile.

"And can I ask who your brother is?"

"Oh, you know.  He's the one you got that shipment of ceruva spores for."

Cologne's smiling face got serious.  How did this girl know about that?  She had ordered it in secret, and got the delivery only last night.  Not to mention that plant was an Amazon secret.  It was so rare and potent that each part of the plant is potentially lethal or curative.  The spores alone make an irresistible aphrodisiac when prepared a certain way or an incurable poison when prepared another way.  Each plant is carefully hoarded, cared for and kept safe in a secret place.  Its existence was something no one outside the amazons knew about.  She was tempted to subdue and interrogate the girl, but with her apparently excellent control of the Saotome Forbidden Technique, Cologne knew there's a chance she could escape fairly easily.  She decided to go the cautious way and get the information she needed to know first before trying anything else.

"I was not aware Son-In-Law has a sister." She cautiously started.  "And may I ask how you knew about my shipment?"  The girl grinned at the elder in reply, her expression saying 'I know something you don't.'

"Now, now, no need to get all upset or anything.  I'm here to deal!   Here's the deal.  You stop going after my little brother and I don't burn down your village."  Lina finished with a smile, as if she hadn't just declared war on the entire Amazon tribe.

The elder Amazon scrutinized the girl in front of her.  It was preposterous that this one girl could threaten her village like that.  Even Son-in-law, with his talent and potential in the art, couldn't possibly threaten them as a whole.  The mere idea is laughable.  She smiled thinly.

"My dear.  Even if you are a master at hiding your aura, the Amazons are very skilled and would not hesitate to kill you just for that remark."  Cologne said dryly, giving the impression she was one of the latter group.  In the background, Shampoo watched curiously, the strange conversation snapping her out of her despondency.  Understanding the 'insult' the newcomer had just given, she grabbed her bonbori and waited for Cologne's direction.  Surely this girl will be punished for her outrageous threats to the village.

Lina ignored the younger Amazon and smirked at the stone-faced elder.  Holding out a hand, palm side up, a red ball of flame burst into existence hovering just over her hand.  Cologne's eyes widened in surprise.  A mage?  That art had never been fully learned and integrated into the Amazons and they were wary of anything that involved magic.  Not that they don't believe in it, of course.  Their village is too close to Jusenkyo to not believe in magic.  Also, since anything magical coming from Jusenkyo always meant trouble, no one has ever even thought of 'learning' the magical arts.  Lina's demonstration had just elevated her in the Matriarch's eyes from a harmless girl to the level she'd normally place Saffron.

"I just can't allow anyone to force my little brother to marry, you see?  I was going to let him handle this, but I'm not so sure if he won't just get into more trouble.  And I need him fairly available soon."  Lina finished calmly.  Closing her hand, the ball of fire flickered out.  Looking at the now-wary elder, she grinned.

"So what do you say?"

It was at that moment when the door burst open and a ragged exhausted man rushed in.  Cologne and Shampoo almost attacked at the sudden invasion, but stopped at as the man held out a wrinkled and stained envelope, which had obviously been through some rough treatment.  

"Urgent…Emergency…letter…for a Cologne…Here…sign please…" he huffed as he fought to catch his breath.  

Quickly signing and tossing the useless male out of the restaurant, Cologne kept one eye on Lina while she opened the envelope.  Reading the letter, she turned white and almost fell off her staff.  Shampoo, all depression forgotten as she realized something is happening, rushed to her and waited anxiously for the elder to speak.

Pack your bags, Shampoo.  We're leaving first thing in the morning.  We are being recalled back to the village.  Cologne instructed the younger Amazon in chinese.

What!  But... Shampoo's protest died as she noticed the worried and angry expression on Cologne's face.

Our village is under attack by monsters.  She gave the letter to the younger Amazon, who quickly read it as well, her expression turning to confusion.

'Monsters'?  Great-great-Grandmother, it's probably just another stupid person who got splashed in Jusenkyo like that Rogue girl.

No.  They wouldn't call us back from a husband-hunt for something like that.  They are capable of handling a dozen Rogues.  This must be something else.

"Cologne's right, you know.  They actually mean 'monsters'.  You know, like demons and such" Lina casually inserted into their conversation.  Surprised the girl understood them, Cologne and Shampoo turned and saw her smile innocently at them. 

"Like I said, let's deal."  Cologne's eyes narrowed as two and two became four.

"You!  You're doing this!" she accused.

Author's notes:

Well, what do you think?  I'm not filling in all the holes right now otherwise, there wouldn't be a much to answer later, right?  I'm also thinking of maybe adding the SM scouts to this – what do you think?

As for Kasumi, I know there's almost a 'rule' out there that Kasumi must not be harmed and stuff.  But in my fic, I like the idea that she's more than just someone to be protected.  I kinda like the idea of a powerful Kasumi.  Sorry for Akane fans out there, but she's not going to have much power relative to the others in this story.   And no, this is **not** an Ranma/Akane or Ranma/Kasumi story.  

For those of you who are familiar with Slayers, Lina may seem a bit OOC, but in this story, she's no longer a teenager.  She's also much more powerful.  After all, if she could do a giga slave in her teens, she should be able to do much more as she gets older, right?

Comments?  Suggestions?  Is this good?  Bad?  You can email me at turtlehat@hotmail.com.  Helpful criticisms welcome.  But if all you're going to do is flame me, please don't bother.  I'm not interested in those.  Like I said in my previous notes, I'm not claiming to be a writer so if you don't like my story, don't read them.


	4. Still untitled

Balancing Act 

By Turtlehat

Disclaimer:  I don't own Ranma.  I don't own Slayers.  I'm doing this for fun only.

Chapter 3 

"You!  You're doing this!" Cologne accused.

"Me?  Of course not!  I wouldn't just attack people without a good reason most of the time, you know.  I just happen to know a few things, is all."  Lina replied indignantly.

"So why are you threatening the village, if you're not responsible for this?  Why should I believe you?" Cologne narrowed her eyes.  Seeing the elder didn't believe her, Lina just shrugged and answered in a carefree manner.

"You're gonna have to take my word for it.  Besides..."

Unseen by Lina, Shampoo stealthily made her way behind Lina and with a sudden burst of speed, leaped at the redhead, intending to knock her unconscious.  Swinging her bonbori down, she was unprepared when it instead hit an invisible wall and bounced right back at her.  Surprised, she didn't let go of the weapon that bounced back and headed towards the back wall, taking her with it.

"Well, I…"  Lina was saying before she was interrupted.

CRASH!

Lina stopped mid-sentence and looked behind her at the gaping Shampoo on the floor still holding onto her bonboris.  Frowning in annoyance, she tapped her foot, crossed her arms in impatience and glared at the younger Amazon.  "Would you quit that?!  We're _trying_ to have a conversation here" she scolded as if talking to a child.

Both Amazons stared unbelieving at Lina.  *What was that?* they both thought at the same time.  Lina, in the meantime, just gave a 'hmph!' and continued on the conversation.

 "Anyway, as I was saying, I didn't even know those things are already attacking your village.  I kinda thought we have another couple of months or something…"  Lina trailed off, deep in thought.

"What do you mean?  What do you know of these attacks?"  the Matriarch demanded.

"Well, according to the prophecy, it was bound to happen sometime.  I would have thought you'd be expecting this to happen soon.  After all, you are the Matriarch, right?"

"Prophecy?  I know of no prophecy which talked about something like this."  Cologne declared, though not as vehemently.  Lina's eyes widened, as if surprised and amazed.

"You mean to say you don't know of the Pyrthania Writings?"

"I'm afraid I am not familiar with it."

Lina smacked her forehead in exasperation.  "Oh for crying out loud!  Why don't you go look it up and we'll talk again tomorrow?!  It should be in your library!  Sheesh!"  Grumbling angrily to herself, she promptly vanished.

"…"

Surprised at her exit, the two Amazons were left blinking at the spot she was standing on.

A second later, Cologne snapped out of it and pogoed her way toward her room.  Stopping at the door, she looked back at the still-shocked Shampoo.

You will speak to no one about this, Shampoo.  I will need to look into this.  Cologne instructed in Chinese.

But great-grandmother!  You don't really believe all that, do you?  Why…there's no way…  Shampoo protested.  I don't think we have anything to worry about, great-grandmother.  When she comes tomorrow, I will be ready to put an end to her threats once and for all.  She declared determinedly.

WHAM!

Faster than the younger Amazon could react, she received a painful bop on the head with Cologne's staff. 

You will do no such thing.  Unless we know what that girl was talking about, we cannot afford to make her an enemy.  I don't want you doing anything until I say so.

You…you believe that crap?!

WHAM!  Another bop on the head.

'Crap' or not, her voice has the sound of sincerity.  I will investigate this so-called 'prophecy' before any action is taken.  What I need you to do is to investigate if Son-In…Ranma really does have a sister.

Shampoo frowned at the change of reference to her 'airen' but merely nodded in reply as she rubbed her sore head.  

*** 

Later that night…

The Amazon Matriarch stared at the old scroll in front of her in self-congratulation.   After several hours of searching, she had found it.  She almost didn't see it until she accidentally triggered a latch that opened a secret compartment in the chest she inherited from the previous Matriarch.  She had kept her important and valuable scrolls in that chest for most of her entire life and never even realized it was there.  Surprisingly, only a couple of scrolls were contained in the secret compartment.  Both of them referred to an oracle named Pyrthania that lived a couple of thousand years ago.  Her prophecies had been the most accurate and documented of all the known history of oracles.  But Cologne had never seen this set.  Hands trembling slightly, she read the first scroll.

_A crimson time.  _

_A tragic time._

_When sorrow's waters join as one _

_When that which was sealed, unsealed_

_Like a flood that begins with a trickle_

_Darkness comes from sorrow_

_Without the balance_

_Without the sacrifice_

_The world will die_

_Blood will flow like the oceans._

_Unimaginable terrors will consume all things_

_Dragons falter_

_Demons gloat_

_Humans die_

It was clear enough to her.  The '_sorrow's waters'_ is obviously a reference to Jusenkyo.  And as she knows, the last she heard, it's waters had overflowed and turned into one.  She suppressed a shiver as she started to believe Lina.  Holding her thoughts, she opened the second scroll, knowing what it contained.

_It took a while for the Oracle to calm down from this vision.  What she saw was apparently so disturbing that she didn't talk for a day or two.  After she seemed to get back to normal, she tried to explain what she saw.  What she said will give me nightmares for a while.  She talked of seeing terrible things.  Of people dying, maimed and butchered.  Of children tortured in front of mothers.  Of people cursed, growing worms that ate them alive, even as it regenerated them to be eaten again.  Of…it's too horrible to describe.  I will not write them further so as not to horrify myself more.  Suffice it to say that the horrors she saw was too terrible to mention._

_The Oracle said that the vision was most likely a possible future.  It was just a possibility and that gives me relief.  She saw a war between what looked like a demon and a dragon.  Around them were all sorts of creatures, including people.  Whenever the dragon wins, everyone stopped.  Whenever the demon wins, a lot of creatures and people disappear, though some new ones appear also to replace the ones who vanish.  Then the two fell together, each falling on one side of a large scale that appeared.  The dragon fell onto one side of the scale, cut into four pieces, while the demon fell onto the other, cut into seven.  Both were the same weight.  Then one piece of each one vanished, tipping the scale.  Then a golden woman came and tears fell from her eyes.  As it fell, her tears scattered on the ground.  A flash of gold and everything but the people vanished.  Then the tears moved, joining into one large body of water.  Out of it came the creatures and monsters.  The small and weak ones came out first, to be followed by the larger and stronger ones.  They all descended onto the people, tearing, gnawing, savaging and killing everyone.  The terrible scenes followed.  Blood flowed, seemingly filling everything.  Another flash of gold and everything disappeared.  There was only emptiness, a void.  Another flash of gold and the scale appeared again.  Then a golden child came and touched the dragon and the demon on each side of the scale, reviving them.  As they flew off the scale, everyone appeared again, creatures, humans, dragons and demons alike…_

It went on to speculate on how to interpret the vision.  Cologne stopped reading and got a chill down her back.  If what they are indeed facing is what was described here, then they really are in trouble.  But she still doesn't get it.  What has Ranma got to do with all this?  What is Lina's role in this?  And how did she know of this prophecy?  This wasn't something she can afford ignore, not with this proof and not with the fate of the Amazons at stake.  She'll just have to get more answers tomorrow.

***

Meanwhile…

"Go warn the village.  Quick!" the Amazon warrior shouted at the younger girl by her side.  With a yell, she charged the incoming monsters.  It was a losing battle and she knew it.  As she clashed with the first one, she noticed the younger Amazon staring stupefied at the battle.  Shouting in anger and fear, she yelled out.  "MEI LU!  GET OUT OF HERE!  NOW!"

Mei lu snapped out of her shock and quickly got her bearings.  Now was not the time to break down, as much as she wants to.  She had just witnessed her friends turn into those monsters that are now trying to kill the last two of them.  They were sent to Jusenkyo from the village, to investigate as best as they could what had happened to it.  Moving as stealthily as they could, they were still spotted by the monsters who were wandering by and had to flee for a while.  A journey that would normally take a few hours walk had turned into days of constant hiding and running.  They could not afford to fight.  Out of the eight of them, only five had made it to their destination.  They observed just long enough to see harmless animals turning into those 'monsters' by stumbling into the large lake the cursed pools had become.  Strangely enough, it seemed like each type of animal that fell into the waters transformed in a different kind of monster.  Deciding to investigate, they had even puposedly dunked a mouse and before it could get it's bearings after it's transformation, they had poured hot water over it.  They had to kill it quick when it didn't change back.  Waiting until the coast was clear, they were about to collect water samples when one of the warriors had tripped and caused a rock to fall into the lake, lightly splashing three of them.  Mei lu, who had been the last in line, watched in fascinated horror as the three fell to the ground in agony.  Twisting and turning and screaming in pain, the three had slowly and apparently painfully, transformed into…something.  What used to be proud Amazon warriors in their prime had turned into large dog-like creatures with glittering scales, large jagged teeth, large sharp claws and blood-red eyes.  When the transformation had completed, the three transformed warriors stood on four feet, growled at the last two Amazons and attacked.  Mei lu had frozen in shock until she heard the last other Amazon shout at her while fighting a losing battle.  Seeing her cut down in less than a minute, she turned ran as fast as she was able, not looking back.

An hour later…

Mei lu ran as fast as her legs can carry her.  Giving up any ideas on shaking them off her trail, she had opted for going straight home where hopefully she can get help.  Seeing the village wall ahead of her, she almost wept for joy as she saw warriors pour out of the gate and headed in her direction.  In a matter of minutes, the creatures were killed.  Thankfully, there was no other casualty except for a couple of severe gashes on a couple of warriors.  Carrying the collapsed Mei lu back inside, the council was gathered and were updated with the a most disturbing fact.  Apparently, Jusenkyo no longer just curses, it transforms permanently. 

***

Meantime at another unknown city…

"Here you go, Master.  Only the best!"  Genma-panda sweated nervously the dreaded Master drank more sake.  Nearby sprawled an unconscious Soun.  It had been six very long weeks.  Six weeks of the Master's sudden decision to put them through some 'quick shape-up training'.  The two of them are practically dead, having been beaten at least every other day by outraged women armed with various weapons from brooms to kitchen utensils.  One particular woman had even thrown a bathtub at them.  By now, they were covered head to toe in dirty bandages, they can barely move, and they haven't eaten in two days!  They had already tried everything else from bribery, to flattery, to not-too-subtle suggestions that it's Ranma who's the heir and should be the one training.  Nothing worked and even the sake doesn't seem to affect the Master that much anymore so there was no hope in trapping him for another decade or so.  But they were more than desperate.  They can't take it anymore!

"Okay boys!  Time for another round!"  Happosai gleefully exclaimed.  Turning around, he sweatdropped at the sight of not one but both his 'students' out cold on the floor.  "They just don't make 'em like they used to…"

Unseen by the three practitioners of the Anything-goes, a pair of crimson eyes twinkled in merriment from the shadows before vanishing.

To be continued…****


End file.
